


I Could... If You Just Let Me

by LazyCatStuart



Category: RWBY
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Attempted Sexual Assault, Blow Jobs, Cervical Penetration, Comfort Sex, Cum Inflation, Cunnilingus, Drinking, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, Fighting, First Kiss, First Time, Fluff, Futanari, Grimm Illness, Hand Jobs, Hurt/Comfort, Masturbation, Mutated Grimm, Mutual Masturbation, Oral Sex, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Romance, Self-Medication, Semi-Public Sex, Shower Sex, Sparring, Too much Plot and Feelings, Unrealistic Proportions, Unrealistic Sex, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, excessive amounts of cum
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2018-10-11
Packaged: 2018-11-11 02:33:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 41
Words: 188,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11139420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LazyCatStuart/pseuds/LazyCatStuart
Summary: They love each other for so long now, but Weiss won't admit these feelings to herself and Ruby isn't brave enough to make the first move. To cap it all, Weiss has a secret that makes her despise her life and Ruby's ambitions to become a Huntress start to get kind of self-destructive after something on a mission goes horribly wrong. Will their relationship save them from themselves?WhiteRose. Futa!Weiss x Ruby. Rated E for adult themes, language, and violence in later chapters





	1. My Dirty Little Secret

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there. LazyCatStuart here. Finally decided to make an account after years of lurking around on this exquisite website, mostly because of the urge to publish something on my own.
> 
> I have done a lot of writing myself before, but never published anything anywhere online, especially not in English... So, well, this is my first attempt to present some of my fanfiction to a real audience. Please keep that in mind before you pick me apart in the comments, fellas. Nevertheless, constructive criticism is always welcome and appreciated, so this Lazy Cat can improve it's probably insufficiently honed writing skills.
> 
> First of all, this story won't be canon. A lot of events that had happened in the original RWBY didn't happen in this alternate setting, foremost the Battle of Beacon. The story takes place at the beginning of everyone's second year at Beacon Academy, after a slightly uneventful first one... (therefore, all characters are about one year older).
> 
> Second, this won't be a smut fic. No worries though, of course, there will be some quality time scenes, but this story will still have a plot (hopefully an interesting one). Also, any adult scenes will be mostly fluffy and romantic... well, mostly...
> 
> Third, at the moment I do not plan to include any other pairings in this story besides WhiteRose. This may or may not change later on, but the story will definitely be focused on WhiteRose.
> 
> And last but not least: As I said before, I'm not a native speaker, so please be gentle with me in the comments regarding the language and excuse/improve any mistakes in spelling or grammar. I'll try my very best to live up to your high expectations, still, nobody's perfect, especially me. 
> 
> Anyway, read, review and most of all... enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY and also don't make any monetary gain from writing this story. This tale is for entertainment purposes only! All part taking characters, settings, creatures and other RWBY-related things belong to Roosterteeth and the respective creators of the aforementioned show.

It was a peaceful summer morning in Vale. The residential district was kind of flooded with people getting to work, but it wasn't hectic at all. In the commercial district, the merchants were setting up their stores to welcome any customers from within and outside the city. The people in the agricultural district were already up and about for some time, eager to support the city with fruit and vegetables. The rather large port area was about to awaken gradually, since the first large cargo vessels were not expected before noon, to trade goods with the other kingdoms.

All the peace and quiet of the city itself seemed to affect Vale's advanced school for Huntsmen and Huntresses, Beacon Academy, as well. The whole campus was immersed in a comfortable silence. Not a single soul was out in the courtyard, its paths void of any person. Void of any person were also the hallways inside of the academy's main buildings, where the classrooms and sparring grounds were located. The Huntsmen- and Huntresses-in-training were all either on some kind of mission or, most likely, in their respective classrooms to receive knowledge from their professors in order to become the best of the best in protecting Remnant's population and slaying the creatures of Grimm – or at least pretending to pay attention in the... more boring lectures.

Well, all students besides one person in particular...

* * *

'No, no, no, no, no, no, no...'

Weiss hurried through the hallways of Beacon Academy, obviously agitated by something. Fortunately for her, the corridors were empty; after all, it was early in the day and almost all students were in some kind of class. Just as she had to be, but an emergency had occurred and therefore she was forced to leave the lecture.

'Not again, not again, not again...'

The heiress wasn't herself anymore. The rational and emotionless _Ice Queen_ , as she was infamously addressed, was long gone. All that was left was a vulnerable girl, terrified someone would find her in the state she was currently in. And that didn't refer to her emotional condition...

Weiss realized it was too risky to make it back to the dorms in her current state, so she entered one of the bathrooms in the main building of the academy. She checked every stall carefully only to find nobody inside. 'It seems my luck may be returning...', the heiress thought bitterly as she entered one of the stalls and locked the door. She had to make sure no one ever discovered her abnormality.

As she lifted her skirt the hated malformation immediately came into sight: a huge penis was straining her panties. At least it had no testicles, otherwise, it would be impossible to wear girl's underwear, and Weiss considered herself a girl. Underneath the cock, she still had what was required to be one, and the rest of her figure also left no doubt about her being anything else: A perfectly feminine body, only tainted by her dirty little secret.

Well... To be honest, Weiss' secret was anything but little. The last time the heiress had measured it (although she didn't know why she wanted this information), it was almost a foot long and roughly two inches wide; and that had been about two years ago! She had no idea how big it was now but she didn't want to know anymore. Her entire life this abhorrent organ had caused her nothing but problems. And it wasn't even her fault she got it in the first place...

* * *

The Atlesian society was extremely patriarchic. The concept of gender equality couldn't gain a foothold in the most northern continent of Remnant and women in leading positions were hardly respected at all, whether it was in politics, in the military or in the economy. Especially large family-owned companies were in need of a male heir to continue their long-held legacy. Companies like the Schnee Dust Company...

Jacques Schnee was very aware of this fact, yet fate seemed to work against him. His firstborn child was a girl and to bequeath the company to her was ineligible. Much to his dismay, he needed a few years to persuade his wife to _try again_ but finally succeeded. Still, he didn't get a proper heir again as his second child turned out to be a girl as well. The CEO of the SDC was growing impatient and was not willing to produce any more children just to _maybe_ get a boy to continue the Schnee legacy. Right after Weiss was born he came to the conclusion that there had to be another way. And he found one, as drastic times called for drastic measures.

There was some kind of experimental Dust, which was accredited to have extraordinary effects. It was a byproduct of questionable and unsuccessful medical research, yet it seemed to have the power to alter the physique and even the gender of a person. The CEO didn't waste any time and assigned his best scientists and physicians to recreate this Dust. By now, Winter was probably too old to be treated without undesirable side effects, so it was Weiss who had to play guinea pig; not even a few months old and already infused with an experimental and highly dangerous substance.

After a couple of weeks, the results were clear: the Dust had changed Weiss' physique a bit, but it couldn't alter her gender completely. The only hint that at least something went in the right direction was the fact that the little girl now had a little penis, located right above her lady parts, but nothing else. Weiss' father demanded to continue the treatment, but his scientists told him it would be way too dangerous. Some of them even quitted their jobs after the realization that they had scarred an innocent, little child for her life with this failed experiment.

The CEO soon came to the conclusion that it was futile to cling to his plan, so he let his daughter grow up without any further attempts to change her. In the hope that the treatment would bring some delayed success, he made Weiss the heiress of the company instead of Winter but honestly didn't believe that happening either. He felt like he was met with utter defeat (something he had never faced before) and invested his time and energy in his company rather than in his, in his opinion, disappointing family.

But then, finally, the gods seemed to favor him again. Totally by accident, his wife got pregnant a few years later and this time Jacques Schnee got a male successor, someone to whom he could bequeath the company without any risks. He promised himself he wouldn't make any mistakes this time, so he used his every bit of energy to make sure his third child, Whitley Schnee, would become the perfect being to take over the company someday. No son, no heir, but preferably a younger copy of himself, so the very essence of his character could run the SDC again, long after his physical entity was counting worms.

Therefore, the very little residual interest in Weiss was swept away completely. He didn't need her anymore, no matter how successful any delayed effects of her treatment would be. For now, she would officially stay the heiress of the company, but as soon as she was close to inheriting it, Jacques would change his mind. One mistake on his daughter's side or an event that would prove her unfit for the position and the CEO would put Whitley in her spot. He even wouldn't be the bad guy that way, as it was all for the company's sake. And Jacques knew that the mistake he hoped for would happen eventually; if not by itself, then with a little aiding and abetting.

At first, Weiss had tried to gain her father's attention again by showing him that she could be the perfect heir despite the fact she was a girl... well, mostly a girl. She aced everything she did, whether it was something school-related or extracurricular. She HAD to ace everything in order to show her father that she was no failure, that she was a child he could be proud of... a child worth to be loved or at least accepted by him.

But Weiss soon came to realize that her efforts were as futile as her father's experiments on her. He would never show any interest in her, her very being only a reminder of one of the biggest defeats he had to accept in his life. Still, a small part of her clung to the thought of him appreciating her someday. After all, she still was the heiress and not her younger brother, so there had to be something he saw in her, she thought. Therefore, Weiss continued to try to be perfect: a well-mannered, disciplined and obedient student and daughter in every way. It wasn't for long and this behavior became almost some sort of mental disorder and whenever she didn't live up to being immaculate (despite her father didn't care) the heiress felt like she was a worthless being, incapable of doing anything right.

And to cap that, there was also the certainty that she was a genetic malformation...

Her life was a living nightmare because of all this. As she grew up she soon became aware of the fact that she was different, in a way nobody should be. She was told to never reveal her _secret_ , as it was called, to anyone, and she started to isolate herself, slowly becoming the person everyone at Beacon now knew as the _Ice Queen_. The heiress was sure if she would let anyone climb over the solid ice walls she had built around her heart over the past eighteen years, and that person would find out, her life was over.

That her secret was also _bothering_ her from time to time wasn't helping at all. The first time it happened was when she was about eleven or twelve years old, Weiss remembered. Fortunately, she soon figured out how to deal with the problem. She hated herself for playing with this, in her opinion, disgusting thing and even more that it felt good doing so, but it was the only way to calm it down when it got erect. Until about a year ago that didn't happen very often (still often enough to annoy her), but ever since she was attending Beacon Academy it had gotten worse, especially over the last few months. Yet, the heiress had no idea why.

'Maybe some kind of _miscreation-puberty_ I'm going through right now...', she thought bitterly as she freed her erection and gave it a stroke that sent shivers down her spine. So that was what she had become: Weiss Schnee, of which everyone thought she was noble and sophisticated, was hiding in an empty bathroom stall masturbating, on top of that with an organ that didn't belong to a normal female form. Every fiber of her body was burning with shame as she did so, but, as said, it was the only way to get rid of her hated erection as soon as possible.

As usual, she started wondering why the mismatched organ acted up this often since she was attending Beacon. Was it due to the unfamiliar environment, which caused her stress and sometimes anxiety? Was it, as she assumed earlier, just a phase her anomalous body had to go through at some point? Was it because of the people she met or had met? And why did it happen this time...

* * *

_(Earlier this day...)_

The members of team RWBY sat in the very last row of the lecture hall, since they arrived almost late, thanks to their fearless but disorganized leader. Ruby had failed to read their schedule correctly again and she had been reassuring everyone that they still had a lot of time before they had to leave for class. Needless to say, they didn't. Fortunately, the mistake had been realized five minutes before their first lecture started, so the four girls got there just before Professor Port began his teaching slash self-adulation. The whole scenario would've reminded team RWBY of their first day of classes after initiation, if only it hadn't happened quite a few times afterwards. Why Ruby was still in charge of the team's schedule was unclear.

Despite the adrenaline rush from almost being late and making a sprint across the whole campus to the main facilities, the first ten minutes of class were enough to drain their will to stay awake completely. Five minutes later, Yang was fast asleep, and Blake, despite being an attentive student otherwise, was soon to follow. Ruby tenaciously tried to stay awake to be a good example as a team leader (and to make up for messing up again), but that was harder than she had thought in the first place. Weiss, however, was as disciplined as always, following Port's story vigilantly and taking notes whenever there was any kind of information basic enough to be useful sometime.

"Please make him stop...", Ruby whined through clenched teeth.

Her head rested on her hand and was tilted to the side, while her eyes struggled to stay open.

"...or put me out of my misery.", she continued, still quiet enough for only Weiss to hear.

"As appealing as this offer might appear, unfortunately, I have to decline.", the heiress whispered, annoyed by the sudden interruption of her concentration. She wasn't one for chatting in class, never had been, even if it was as boring as this one.

"In case you didn't notice, I'm trying to focus here.", the white-haired girl continued, not even looking up from her notepad, "So could you please limit this distracting chit-chat to a minimum?"

"Oh, look at me. I'm Weiss. I'm such a good student. I would never admit that death is a much more favorable option than enduring Professors Port's lecture.", Ruby mocked her teammate playfully but gave her a small grin just to reassure she was only joking. Since the heiress tended to mistake a joke for an insult, the crimson-haired girl knew it was best to make sure she didn't mean any harm by this little teasing.

"Stop it, dunce. You never know if something he says between his self-praising tales may save your life in a hazardous situation.", Weiss explained quietly and added a little angry, "And I don't sound like that!"

"Aww... come on.", Ruby giggled, "I'm just messing with you."

The heiress wanted to respond something but then she felt a slender arm wrapping itself around her waist. Not a second later the crimson-haired girl pulled her in for a hug. It wasn't that unusual for this to happen but this time it caught Weiss completely off guard. She froze immediately as she felt her blood rise to her cheeks at the touch of the younger girl. She couldn't do anything but notice once more how pleasantly warm and soft Ruby's body was.

The crimsonette rested her head on Weiss' shoulder and pulled her a little bit closer. A strange feeling started to appear in the heiress' chest, strangely pleasant and a little frightening at the same time. Did she... enjoy this?

'No way!', Weiss told herself inwardly but it was more like she was trying to convince herself. The lovely scent of roses filled her nose... which was odd since Ruby's currently used shampoo was strawberry-scented.

'And why the hell do I know this in the first place?!', the heiress thought irritated.

"H-hey! D-don't do that, you dolt!", she stammered quietly and pushed Ruby away. The warmth of her team leader disappeared, however, the strange feeling didn't.

"Oh... sorry.", Ruby said with a sheepish smile and looked down at her feet. 'Wait... is she... also blushing?', the heiress thought confused. A shiver went down her spine as she noticed a tingling sensation between her legs.

'Oh no...'

That was bad. Really, really bad. Why did this have to happen now, in the middle of class, with no options of retreat?

'Calm down, Weiss.', the heiress tried to soothe herself, 'You're better than this. You're not getting an erection right now. In class. Next to...'

Yet, a specific part of her had to disagree. The white-haired girl felt her blood starting to rush down her body and she knew it was too late to stop this process by simple willpower. Soon, her ridiculously large endowment would be noticed – and that mustn't happen.

As fast as she could, Weiss snatched her papers and crammed them into her briefcase. "Well... I-I have to... I don't feel... umm...", she stammered and stood up. Watching out that she kept her briefcase in front of her crotch, she stormed out of the lecture hall.

'No, no, no, no, no, no, no...'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... that's that. First chapter.
> 
> Mostly an explanation of the setting and how Weiss became what she is. Since this won't be just smut, it would be weird not to tell why she is different (in that way). Her history is also relevant to the plot, but I don't want to spoil anything I have in mind for this story.
> 
> As said before, any feedback is welcome so I can improve.
> 
> Please review and stay tuned for the next chapter! LCS


	2. How I Feel About You

A confused Ruby Rose looked after her partner as the white-haired girl left the lecture hall in a hurry. Since they sat in the very back the other students barely noticed Weiss' leave. Even Professor Port just made a little pause (only two seconds at most) and cocked an eyebrow, then he continued his lecture or rather a tale about him doing something badass when he had been younger.

It was odd for the heiress to leave a class, especially without excusing herself. She was an extremely disciplined student after all.

'Maybe the hug made her angry enough to force her to leave.', Ruby thought, 'So she wouldn't lose her patience and yell at me in the middle of the class.' The crimson-haired girl sighed. She should know better by now.

It was well known to everybody at Beacon that Ruby could be kind of clingy, especially to Weiss. The hugs, the cheering at something the white-haired girl had done, the wish to be appreciated by her... to everybody else it seemed that the leader of team RWBY cared a whole lot about her friend. Needless to say, that was true. Well, halfway true. At least the caring part was true... but about the friend part...

'Stupid, stupid, stupid!', Ruby cursed herself silently as her knuckles hit her forehead three times, 'Why do you do this all the time, Ruby? You know you're too clingy. You know that this annoys people. And you shouldn't annoy people. At least not her...'

The crimson-haired girl was long since aware of the fact that she had a huge crush on her white-haired teammate. At first, she just thought that she wanted to be Weiss' friend since she hadn't known anybody at Beacon (besides her sister) as she skipped two grades and was transferred here. But soon she realized that her feelings were different from anything she had ever felt before. At first, Ruby couldn't understand it herself, then she couldn't explain it, after that she tried to deny it, only to finally come to the only conclusion left: She was in love with Weiss.

Something about the heiress had made Ruby start to fall for her the day they met - and it wasn't her looks, well, not her looks alone. Nevertheless, the crimson-haired girl couldn't deny that Weiss was overwhelmingly beautiful. In Ruby's eyes, she was perfect in every way. There was nothing the younger girl could find wrong about Weiss.

Her eyes... these mesmerizing icy blue eyes. They were like two crystal clear lakes high atop a mountain that sparkled in the sunlight. Ruby could find herself getting lost in her eyes every time they looked at her, no matter how angry they might be at the moment; and she was often scolded by the heiress for spacing out. But still... gazing into them felt like taking a refreshing breath outside on a cool winter morning. Even the scar that seemed to flaw the left one, didn't diminish its beauty. Not in the slightest... It made Weiss kind of... real to her... She may be an angel to Ruby, but apparently, she was still a human being of flesh and blood.

Her hair... it flowed like white silk. It was as soft as freshly fallen snow and as smooth as a sheet of ice. The most perfect sheet of ice ever come into being. The way it flowed in a gentle breeze, the way it shimmered in the sunset in every color imaginable... it was a breath-taking sight to the crimsonette. Every day it was styled perfectly, but it was still beautiful when she let it down in the evening... maybe even more beautiful... like a silent waterfall of pure moonlight.

Her delicate feminine form... delicate like a flower, almost looking fragile, yet strong and prideful. Her princess-like, soft hands, fingers dainty and slender, nails perfectly trimmed all the time. Her legs were toned, but still feminine, like those of a ballet dancer. And as for the other, more _sensual_ parts of her body... just thinking about them sent a shiver down the crimson-haired girl's spine. Flawless in every way.

That aside, it wasn't just Weiss' looks that made Ruby fall for her since the crimsonette had no idea she liked girls in the first place. No... even though the heiress hadn't spared a single nice word for her at first, there had been something that seemed to cast a spell over Ruby. Maybe it was Weiss' pride, or her grace, or her self-confidence, but for some reason, the silver-eyed girl just wanted to be a little like her... to be appreciated by her... to be more to her...

And over time countless other reasons for Ruby's feelings were added: Weiss' ambitiousness, her discipline, her helpfulness while they studied together, their shared enthusiasm for combat skirts, her caring side (which took her long enough to show), her breath-taking singing voice (sometimes Ruby could hear her sing a beautiful yet kind of sad song when Weiss thought she was alone), her mesmerizing although rare smile, her lovely smell, the list went on and on. Ruby was absolutely positive that since day one she had fallen head over heels in love with the cute, albeit snarky and cold, white-haired girl.

She had no real hopes of getting anywhere, though. She didn't even know if Weiss was into girls (most likely not). And even if so (yet again, most likely not), there was no way the crimsonette would be good enough for the rich and sophisticated heiress of the world-famous Schnee Dust Company. Just thinking about there might be a chance made Ruby feel stupid and infantile. On the other hand, the thought of Weiss marrying some rich, pompous snob in the future (something that was most likely going to happen) made her feel like she was about to vomit.

* * *

"You alright, sis?", Yang asked with a sleepy, yet confused expression as she saw Ruby hit herself, "And where's the Ice Queen?"

She had been woken up by the sound of rustling paper and hasty footsteps, probably Weiss' footsteps since the white-haired girl had disappeared. Now the blonde rubbed her drowsy, lilac eyes, checked the time on her scroll and frowned: This torturous class wasn't even halfway over.

"I'm fine.", Ruby said, trying not to sound as gloomy as her thoughts had left her, "And Weiss just left for whatever reason. She looked a little flushed. Maybe she wasn't feeling well."

The crimson-haired girl remembered the blush her hug had left on Weiss' face: 'Maybe... urgh, no way... she probably was just angry with me... again...'

"You look a little sad, though.", Yang continued and added a little teasingly, "Come on, tell big sis what's bothering you."

Ruby shook her head. There was no way she could tell anybody about her feelings, not even her sister. She would never hear the end of it, or even worse: when Weiss somehow got wind of it, it would probably be the end of their friendship.

"I told you I'm fine.", Ruby said with emphasis and, unfortunately, a little too loud.

"Ladies!", Professor Port's gallant, yet stern voice echoed through the lecture hall, "If there is something _immensely_ important you have to talk about, why won't you share it with the whole class? Otherwise, I would like to proceed without any further interruptions.", he made a pause, probably for the dramatic effect, and then continued, even more sternly, "Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, Professor. Sorry, Professor.", came the answer of Ruby and Yang in unison.

"Splendid!", Port said, again in his gallant and enthusiastic intonation, and turned back to the rest of the class, "Now, where were we... Oh! I remember... Back in the destroyed village, I found myself to be surrounded by..."

Ruby didn't try to follow him anymore. Her mind circled around the girl whose departure left her feeling empty. Professor Port's lecture wasn't nearly as important to her, let alone the fact that it probably wouldn't help her to become a better huntress. If there was any information worth remembering she would just copy the notes of one of her classmates, most likely from team JNPR. With nothing else to do she started daydreaming:

_'Weiss and I lay on her bed, making out passionately._

_"Why did it take you so long to confess to me?", she asks between the kisses._

_"I don't know...", I admit sheepishly, "Maybe I was afraid you'd turn me down."_

_"Dolt.", she says with a giggle as she gently caresses my cheek, "There's no way I could turn down someone as cute as you. Especially when it's_ you _." Well, she has a point, hehe._

_I continue to assault these sweet lips of hers with my own, gaining a satisfied moan from her. She hugs me tighter, pulls me closer, deepens the kiss. My tongue brushes against her lips, asking for entrance, and Weiss is more than willing to grant it. I explore her mouth gently, while she is doing the same with mine. Our tongues meet and, of course, fight for dominance._

_One of my hands caresses her thigh and slowly reaches up until it finds its way under the hem of her nightgown. Her passionate kisses and cute, little moans encourage me as my fingers creep up further until they reach and stay at the waistline of her panties._

_"Yesss.", Weiss whispers lustfully, her eyes half-lidded, and gives me a reassuring smile._

_That's all I need. As I kiss her again, I pull down her underwear agonizingly slow, while my little Snowflake is growing more and more impatient. I decide I've kept her waiting long enough. My hand is reaching up her smooth thigh again and..._

_Stop it, Ruby, you pervert! You don't want that... well, not_ just _that. You want a serious relationship with her... oh, for fuck's sake... like that is really going to happen... My life sucks pretty much..._

_Come on, Ruby... You're thinking too much into it. It was just a simple hug and now you're totally freaked out about it. Why the hell?! It's not like that hadn't happened before... well, Weiss' reaction was odd.... nevertheless... Pull yourself together, damn it! There is no way Weiss is wasting a second thought on this...'_

* * *

'Ruby!', Weiss suddenly thought as she tried to calm down her erection in the bathroom stall, 'It happened when Ruby hugged me.'

The thought of her team leader sent another shiver down her spine and made her penis twitch. Even a little bit of precum started to ooze from the tip.

'But why did it happen when Ruby hugged me?!', Weiss asked herself disturbed, 'I mean, well, admittedly... she is kind of my only friend here and... Whoa! Wait, Weiss. You're not going to think about that dolt while doing... _THIS_... are you?! Pull yourself together! Get it over with, then you can sort out your thoughts.'

She continued to stroke her member more determined. Maybe if all of this was over she could finally go back to being her normal self; if even for a few days, a week tops, until that disgusting thing would act up again - which used to happen more often over the last few months for whatever reason. Still: there was NO WAY Ruby could be related to this. It had to do something with being close to people in general and the nervousness that came with it.

Weiss thought of something that would help her shorten the procedure. She had never watched any kind of porn and although she knew that it could have some _therapeutical_ utility, she would never degrade herself to do so. Besides, since she had both... well... types of equipment, she had no idea in which position she would or should end up in her mind. She didn't even know her sexual preferences or what to look for in a potential, albeit imaginary, partner.

The thought of that left a full-grown frown on her already annoyed looking face. She would never find herself in a situation where some kind of romance was possible. She was a freak, which was something nobody could tolerate in a real relationship. But Weiss didn't care. She didn't need people until now and she won't be needing them in the future. The safest place was alone anyway.

But if she were to build an image in her head of someone attractive, what would they look like? She tried to make up her mind but nothing but a faceless figure with no distinctive features came to mind.

'Come on, Weiss.', she thought, 'You're eighteen now. Everyone that age has at least a vague idea of how the perfect man... woman... no, definitely a man... whatever... has to look like.'

Then, all of a sudden, the image in her thoughts had shoulder-length dark red hair and looked kinda familiar. Not too familiar, fortunately, because Weiss shook the image out of her head in time and only concentrated on getting the task done. She started to feel a well-known sensation jolt through her body and she knew she was close. She continued to stroke her member faster and aimed it at the open toilet.

'Just let's get this over with...', she thought bitterly as she felt her release coming up. She wanted her mind to go blank with the sensation and to wash away all these annoying thoughts with it. Restarting the system... It seemed to work since everything in her head but the reminder of _'everything going back to normal'_ faded into oblivion. Yet, the last somewhat conscious thing that slipped through her mind was a really disturbing, yet familiar sentence:

"Aww... come on. I'm just messing with you."

With a muffled cry as she bit the index finger of her other hand which yanked her skirt even further upwards in the process, Weiss came and her member painted the inside of the toilet in a creamy-white pattern. Spurt after spurt of pent-up cum plastered the ceramic bowl in an alabaster-colored mess. When the heiress was finished, the toilet looked like someone with very shaky hands had poured away at least a pint of white gooey paint without flushing. Weiss had no clue where all of that came from and she really didn't want to know either.

'Okay... I did what you wanted me to do... disgusting appendage...', the white-haired girl thought exhausted and full of self-hatred, 'Can you please go down, so I can continue to live my life and at least pretend to be a normal human being?' Strangely enough, the addressed organ obeyed the order and shrunk down to what was about the size of her thumb, maybe slightly larger.

"Thank Dust...", the heiress sighed quietly as she tucked it back into her panties after she got it cleaned up. She still had no idea how something so small could become so ridiculously huge with just a redirected blood flow. However, she was glad it also worked vice versa. Otherwise, it would be impossible to hide the hated organ inside her panties and under her skirt.

Weiss wiped her sweat off, fixed her clothes and took a deep breath. As she prepared her leave, she checked the time on her Scroll. Port's lecture was only halfway over but for some reason, the white-haired girl didn't want to return. She'd just make up an excuse, something about not feeling well this morning, and inform her professor the next time they'd meet. Her grades had always been immaculate so she definitely wouldn't be reprimanded for missing today's lecture.

The heiress flushed the toilet, left the bathroom stall and checked herself one last time in the mirror. Besides the slight exhaustion she was feeling, there were no physical signs of what she had done here: no sweat, no blush, no nothing. If any other student would ask about why she had left she would just tell them she couldn't bear Professor Port's dreadful stories anymore (after all, she was only human and Port was, well, Port...) and hopefully they would believe her.

Weiss gave herself a reassuring nod. Now she could congregate with the rest of her team without any further inconveniences, hopefully for quite some time, maybe even for one or two beautiful, worry-free weeks.

Yet, her mind still wasn't in _worry-free_ mode. Why had it come to this because of Ruby's hug? This couldn't be about Ruby, could it?

'No way!', the heiress told herself again. It must have to do something with physical contact in general. It was a satisfying explanation that only had to do something with Ruby since nobody else than the crimsonette hugged her, or (to be more precise) nobody else _dared_ to hug her.

'Yes! That must be it!', Weiss thought, 'Ruby has nothing to do with this! She's just the only one who sticks to that annoying, inappropriate pattern... it seems... that dolt!'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another one down, about the same length as the first one. I guess I'll stick with 2k-3k words for one chapter, unless it is something really important that can't be divided into two segments.
> 
> I try not to smutizise this too soon, so for now (and probably for the next few chapters) I won't do much more explicit content, although things might still get a little suggestive, like in Ruby's fantasy. Also, the description of Weiss' problem-solving strategy wasn't meant to be overly sexualized, just an annoyed girl trying to get rid of something she shouldn't have in the first place. If I were to write a real graphic scene it would be more refined. Don't worry, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
> 
> About Ruby's daydream: I know this may be a little out of character for little Rubes, but I'd like to think that she grew a little more mature over that last year at Beacon. Additionally, in this story she likes Weiss for quite some time already, so it would be natural to think of this stuff when you daydream a lot about a fictional relationship. Besides, you may remember that she refused to return the "Ninjas of Love" novel to Blake in the first episode of RWBY Chibi. So maybe Ruby isn't that innocent after all, who knows.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and as always: Please review and stay tuned! LCS


	3. A Simple Sparring Match

After Professor Port's lecture, they all had sparring class with Professor Goodwitch. Weiss secretly hoped she wouldn't be called up since her latest actions left her somewhat weary. The heiress hated her damn physique for being so demanding over the past few months - it wasn't the first time she wasn't in her _best shape_ for sparring class because of it. Fortunately, no one called upon her to do a match with anyone until the training was almost over.

"Okay...", Professor Goodwitch announced, "I think we only have time for one more match. I call up Pyrrha Nikos...", she made a pause, almost as she had to think about her next actions first, but then continued, "...and Ruby Rose."

Weiss could see that the younger girl's eyes widened in a mixture of excitement and shock as she was requested to participate in a match against the very best of their sparring grade. Not that the younger girl was too far behind her but usually Pyrrha fought against more than one student at once. If Ruby was asked to face her alone, it was either because of the staff of Beacon had very high expectations placed on the young girl... or they wanted to set some kind of warning example...

"Combatants, would you please gather in the arena?", Professor Goodwitch requested, "We want to see a fair match."

The two addressed girls made their way down from the stands and faced each other on the sparring ground. Ruby unfolded Crescent Rose, trying to hide her nervousness as she positioned herself in her combat stance. Pyrrha followed suit, a look of determination on her face. She and the younger girl most certainly were good friends outside of the ring but right here, right now, they were opponents, bitter enemies, so the redhead wouldn't hold back... and Ruby knew this.

"Are you ready?", Professor Goodwitch asked but without waiting for any sign of an answer, she shouted, "And... begin!"

* * *

With a loud battle cry, the silver-eyed girl used her Semblance to dash towards her opponent. A shot backwards from her scythe accelerated her even more as she prepared her attack. Pyrrha, however, just stood there, calm and collected, analyzing the situation. The younger girl swung her weapon over her head to deliver a heavy blow but was taken aback as the sound of metal scraping against metal echoed through the arena.

In the very last moment, Pyrrha had brought her shield between herself and the crimson scythe, blocking Ruby's attack and shoving the blade to the side. A fraction of a second later she thrust her javelin forward in an attempt to deliver a blow herself but Ruby followed the movement of her opponent's shield and dodged the counter-attack with a dive roll. Regaining her combat stance, the younger girl scolded herself silently for being foolish enough to believe that such a brutal onslaught would've had any effect on such an experienced fighter like Pyrrha.

Ruby knew she had to be more careful if she wanted to win this match or at least avoid to embarrass herself in front of the whole class. Her next strike had to be well-conceived in order to actually hit the target and don't leave herself so exposed again. Ruby scanned her opponent for any kind of weakness, only to find Pyrrha in a perfect fighting position, void of any flaws, the green eyes of the older girl watching her somewhat threatening.

Then, suddenly, Pyrrha dashed forward, Miló quickly changing into its xiphos form. Ruby readied herself to block the incoming attack and, if possible, counter with one herself. The slash at her shoulder came quick and was well-aimed but the silver-eyed girl was quicker and able to parry the blow. However, the first strike had been only a feint and as soon as Ruby realized this, it was already too late. Shortly after, she was hit by the older girl's shield which almost knocked her over, only to be kicked away several feet a moment later.

There was a loud _thud_ as Ruby hit the ground but she pulled herself to her feet again immediately. Her Aura had absorbed the attack amazingly well, still, there was quite some pain. But she had no time to worry about this. Quickly, she transformed Crescent Rose into its rifle form and fired a few bullets at her opponent. Although Pyrrha managed to block them all with her shield, the impact was strong enough distract her slightly.

Ruby used the little time she had won to dash towards Pyrrha again and attacked her with a rapid series of strikes which were either parried or dodged easily. Too concentrated on her offense, the silver-eyed girl had let her defense down and had to take some hits herself. Her Aura was still strong enough to withstand all cuts and slashed but at the current pace Ruby knew she wouldn't last long - and yet she hadn't landed a single hit on Pyrrha herself.

Taking a step back and concentrating on her defense again, the crimsonette could finally take a short breather to change her tactic. Pyrrha's weapon quickly switched back to its javelin form and it attacked Ruby once more. But this time, the silver-eyed girl was prepared. She dodged the stab, pushed the shield aside with the back end of her scythe and spun it around, maybe lacking some force in her current position but hitting her opponent right in the chest, making her stumble. A little bit of pride welled up in Ruby's chest at that.

'Maybe I'm still able to change tack of this match...', she thought. But she was wrong. This single hit was bought dearly. Ruby had thought that her attack would've thrown Pyrrha off balance but this was not the case. Far too early, almost immediately, the older girl was back on her feet and ready to counter.

'Was taking this hit just another feint?'

It was now that Ruby realized her swing had left her completely off guard, in a weak and wobbly stance and her heavy scythe was way too unhandy to correct this in time. Barely a second after she realized her mistakes, it felt like she was losing the ground as the back end of Pyrrha's spear swiped her off her feet. The last thing she saw as she hung helplessly in the air was the shield of her opponent that closed up on her at a very rapid pace.

An ugly sound echoed through the hall as Akoúo̱ hit Ruby hard in the face and sent her flying. An even uglier sound followed as the younger girl crashed against the next wall. And a last, still pretty ugly sound completed this ugly trinity as she fell down and hit the ground... hard. Her Aura meter immediately dropped into the red, she wasn't able to fight anymore. It was over - the loud beeping of the arena's buzzer confirmed this.

"And that's the match.", Professor Goodwitch announced, "The winner is Pyrrha Nikos. Thanks for participating, you two."

Not wanting to humiliate Ruby any further, the blonde woman knew well enough not to mention how one-sided this fight had been - as well as not pointing out the many mistakes the younger girl obviously had made. It might be her job as a teacher to do so, so her students could improve, then again, to kick someone who was already down wasn't.

Ruby pulled herself back to her feet and dusted herself off. There was no part of her body that didn't hurt but she wasn't about to let it show to anyone. Pyrrha was known to find her enemies' weaknesses fast and then hit them even faster... and way harder on top of that. Still, a fight barely three minutes long was more than a disgrace and it made Ruby furious... and bitter.

Pyrrha approached the younger girl and offered her a handshake: "Thank you for this great sparring match. You were a worthy opponent."

Ruby forced herself to smile, shook hands with her friend and nodded, but under her breath, she mumbled sarcastically: "Yeah, totally..." Pyrrha raised an eyebrow at this comment but didn't read too much into it. She gave the younger girl a final, encouraging smile, then she returned to the stands. Ruby, however, walked straight towards the arena exit.

"Alright, everyone! That is all for today.", Professor Goodwitch said, "Please remember to practice your fighting skills and combat tactics for your upcoming missions. All second-years will be attending them in teams of two, so take that into account when exercising with your partner. You're dismissed." With these words, the students rose from their seats and made their way out, in an attempt to leave for lunch break.

* * *

The rest of team RWBY hurried to catch up with their leader. The young crimsonette seemed to be in a bad mood, which was odd for the usually bubbly and energetic girl, especially after sparring class. Admittedly, her utter defeat was obvious but usually Ruby would take this as a reminder that she still had to learn a lot and also as an encouragement to try harder. But this time it didn't seem that way.

Weiss was the first one to make it out of the arena, somehow driven by a weird urge to talk to her leader and maybe to soothe her. The crimsonette's behavior had been more than strange.

Soon, she saw a familiar red cape and the person who wore it shoved herself recklessly through the mass of students that populated the hallways.

"Ruby!", Weiss called out. No response. Equally reckless the white-haired girl pushed her way through the other people and grabbed her partner by her crimson hood.

"Hey! I was talking to you, you dolt!", she spat but immediately regretted her choice of words and attitude as she saw the grim look on her usually cheerful and optimistic team leader's face.

"What do you want?", Ruby said, not really angry but oddly indifferent, almost insensitive. As the crimsonette recognized Weiss, her facial features seemed to soften but only a bit.

"Well, you left so abruptly and you seemed kind of gloomy, so I thought it would be the best to check on you. So what's wrong?", the heiress answered. It was an appropriate and reasonable response, and most of all it was honest. But beneath it, there was this caring side of Weiss that really, really wanted to know what was wrong, not because it might affect the team but because she wanted to comfort Ruby, whatever it was that was bothering her. Though she never really wanted to show this. However, Ruby's reaction was strange.

"Did you oversleep my _glorious_ battle?" Sarcasm? Ruby didn't even like sarcasm...

"Ruby, are you okay?", Weiss asked carefully because of this unusually erratic remark.

"I'm fine.", the addressed girl replied emotionless, turned around again and continued walking.

"Don't take me for a fool.", Weiss said, a little displeased but still concerned, "If there's something that afflicts you, or the team, in any way, then..."

"I said, I'm fine!", Ruby gnarled, now a glint of anger in her voice but as she turned back to the heiress she just looked crestfallen, "Tell Yang and Blake... whatever... I want to be alone right now. I hope you understand." With these words, the crimsonette submerged into the crowd of students. Weiss didn't try to follow her, but seeing Ruby like this made her feel... empty.

* * *

Lunch break was held almost in silence at team RWBY's (well, more WBY's) table. Yang and Blake were asking Weiss about Ruby's whereabouts since she had been the last one to talk to her but the heiress simply shut down any conversation by saying that their leader "has some stuff to do, and I have no idea what it's about".

Their teammates seemed to buy it since Ruby usually wasn't in a bad mood after sparring class but Yang (being the overprotective sister she was) pressured the heiress with some other questions: How was Ruby feeling, did something seem odd, why did she leave class this sudden? Since Weiss couldn't provide any useful answers, or didn't want to, and reassured everyone that Ruby just wanted some time for herself, Yang let it slide and after a couple of messages to her sister's Scroll, she calmed down a bit, even if she hadn't got a response for their hour-long break beside a casual "Don't worry, I'm fine...".

After lunch break, team RWBY had to attend Dr. Oobleck's history class. Weiss, Blake, and Yang took their seats somewhere in the middle, mainly because not to seem uninterested but still to avoid most of the green-haired Professor's questions. Even though his classes were more interesting that Professor Port's _lectures_ , no one was in the mood to be dragged into some kind of discussion. So Dr. Oobleck rambled on and on about a minor skirmish at the coastline of Vale in the times of the Great War.

Yang was just more or less listening but Blake and Weiss were taking notes as usual. Still, none of them could quite concentrate because their fearless leader was still absent. It was odd for Ruby to miss a class since she was always eager to prove herself to be a suitable team leader. She didn't really need to anymore, though, since she had shown many times already that she was more than capable of this task in the past year. Despite the fact that the crimsonette was two years younger than everyone at Beacon, she still had some kind of natural talent, was it about planning team exercise, study plans, or battle strategies when they were out in the field. Okay, she confounded their schedule sometimes but so far they always got to classes on time... even if it was a really close call sometimes.

Dr. Oobleck was talking himself into a frenzy. Every aspect of the portrayed battle and the reasons why it happened were debated. But just as he attempted to come to the final conclusion, the bell released the students into their well-earned leisure time.

"Alright, children.", the green-haired teacher said in his fast and peppy voice, "Since we couldn't draw a line under today's lecture, please read chapters 14 to 17 in your academic transcripts about Vale's conflicts in the Great War till tomorrow. It's just about 60 pages. Don't worry, once it gets going it will almost read itself. Very well, see you all tomorrow...", he looked at a schedule, "...at three precisely. Class dismissed." After that, Dr. Oobleck stormed off in his usual manner.

* * *

"Okay. Since none of you want to address the subject...", Yang began after the three girls made it out of Dr. Ooblecks lecture, "I'm starting to worry about Ruby. It just isn't like her to abandon us like this without a trace and also to ditch a class, even if it's Oobleck's..." The last words were spoken with emphasis since Yang really wasn't a fan of any kind of history lecture.

"I mean, she doesn't even answer my text messages anymore.", the blonde brawler continued, "And I know she has her Scroll at hand because she redirected my call to her mailbox just a few minutes ago."

"She probably just _really_ wants some time for herself.", Blake mentioned, "We all want to be alone from time to time, even if it's just for a few hours."

"You are talking about the girl that knocks on the bathroom door while you're in there and asks what you are doing because she feels lonely after the two minutes you _left her alone_ in the dorm room.", Weiss interjected while rolling her eyes.

"See? That's exactly what I meant.", Yang said, "Well, not with these exact words, but still... What if she was hurt during the sparring match and now she is in the medical ward?"

"The staff would've informed us if that would've happened. And she didn't look physically injured when I talked to her.", Weiss mentioned, "But I see your point. We should at least look for her."

Blake nodded in response and added: "If anybody finds a clue about her whereabouts we should message each other. It certainly _is_ odd for her to just... disappear like this."

"Like you're the one to talk, kitty cat.", Yang added with a grin, but nevertheless, she still was concerned.

"Whatever...", Blake shrugged the comment off, "It seems that there's some more important stuff going on here. Ruby really wouldn't just shut herself off if it wasn't about something important."

Since the other team members had nothing else to add to the Faunus' comment, they decided to search for their team leader. So they made a plan: Yang was in charge to look around the courtyard, Blake was appointed to first search their dorm room, the rest of the dorms and then the cafeteria, and Weiss had to examine the library and the medical ward (just to be sure). It was almost certain that Ruby wasn't in that maze of bookshelves and quiet desks and that's why the rest of team RWBY appointed Weiss to the library-task since the heiress wasn't the most sensitive one when it came to asking about someone's feelings.

Still, the white-haired girl didn't read too much into their teammates' decision... after all, something was wrong with Ruby... and that was more important.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ouch... poor little Rubes. I mean I knew what it feels like to be hit in the face, but with a shield? And then crashing into a wall? I repeat myself: Ouch...
> 
> This time I encourage you to review as much as possible since writing fight scenes is kind of a weak spot of mine (That's why the one in this chapter is so short). I have this choreography, all the movements, attacks, etc., elaborated in my mind, but it feels like I am really bad at formulating this stuff. So please, if you have any improvement suggestions, I'm all ears (well, eyes, since I'm reading them...)
> 
> Of course, any kind of other feedback is appreciated as well.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Stay tuned for the next one! LCS


	4. Am I Not Good Enough?

The courtyard was void of any evidence about Ruby's whereabouts. All students Yang had asked (or threatened) hadn't seen a crimson-haired girl dressed in a very distinctive hood. After all, Yang had to admit that Ruby wasn't that kind of person to wander around mindlessly when she was upset about something. Also, after her not that peaceful interrogations, the blonde was quite sure that no one had spotted her sister anywhere near.

If Ruby was somewhere around Beacon she was definitely not in the courtyard. Maybe she went to the cliffside and nobody had seen her go. With that in mind, the blonde took off to the edges of the academy, hoping she would find Ruby there, gazing at the clouds or the horizon or something to calm her nerves like she did sometimes. Yang herself went to the cliffs every now and then to watch the mesmerizing sunsets when she was upset and didn't feel like hitting the gym. Unfortunately, it was only quarter to four, so there would be no colorful skies to see... but maybe a girl with a red hood.

* * *

Blake wasn't successful in finding Ruby either. The crimsonette wasn't in team RWBY's dorm room, in the bathroom, or in the closet; yet, the Faunus wasn't quite sure why she had checked the latter. Admittedly, Ruby could be childish sometimes but she was most likely not _that_ childish, hiding in there to pout.

After that, Blake checked the dorm's kitchen and the study areas but these were also void of the younger girl. She even asked team JNPR about the crimson-haired girl's whereabouts but they also hadn't seen her since sparring class.

Since no one in the dorms had any idea where Ruby could be, Blake made her way to the cafeteria. Maybe the sugar addict was there for a cup of hot chocolate and a piece of cake or another treat. It wasn't the first time Ruby abandoned her studies for an hour to _reward herself for all the hard work_ , as she put it. But then again, she had never ditched a class because of that before...

But the cafeteria was almost empty and the young crimsonette was nowhere to be seen. In the hopes that her teammates would be more successful than her, Blake returned to the dorms. Maybe she would find any clue about Ruby's whereabouts on her way, or maybe their leader would just return soon.

* * *

Weiss had decided to head to the medical ward first because it was the easier task. If the receptionist had seen Ruby, they would answer right away, if not, there was no possibility that the crimson-haired girl was inside the building... if she hadn't infiltrated it through some kind of ventilation shaft - which was a totally absurd thought.

When the heiress got there and asked about a Ruby Rose, she immediately had her answer: The last time they had seen her was two months ago because of a dental cavity, probably due to her cookie addiction. For some reason, Weiss felt relieved not to find her partner here... but why? It was almost obvious that Ruby wasn't injured. The white-haired girl pushed the odd feeling away and headed to the library.

Finding Ruby here would be a much more difficult and time-consuming task; Weiss was aware of that. The library of Beacon Academy was enormous: It was a maze of bookshelves and corridors, and to cap that, there where separate study rooms almost everywhere. Since the heiress wasn't going to finish her search for Ruby half-heartedly, she would have to check every single one of the small cabinets.

First, she asked the librarian if he had seen a crimson-haired girl dressed in a red hood in the past few hours but wasn't given a useful answer since there were a lot of students coming here.

'Looks like I have to find that dolt all by myself, given that she really is here.', Weiss thought, 'But I highly doubt that.'

So the white-haired girl wandered through the corridors and knocked on the door of every study room the passed. If she got no answer, she checked the small cabinet carefully (she didn't want to disturb any hardworking student, after all). If someone answered, yet not the familiar voice she wanted to hear, she apologized and justified the disruption by saying that she was looking for a teammate she had a project to finish with.

'A small, white lie, so they have no reason to be upset, given they have any understanding of dedication and appropriate work ethics.', the heiress thought to herself, then she was taken aback a little by her arrogant thoughts, 'Wow... where did that come from? I thought you wanted to be nicer, Weiss...'

Still, there wasn't any sign of Ruby.

'Just as I thought...', the white-haired girl told herself annoyed, 'There was no way I would find Ruby here. Okay, her work ethics may have improved over the past months, but... besides, why would she go to the library when she had a regular class to attend to? That would make even less sense. That dolt's probably just goofing off somewhere...' But just as that thought had passed, Weiss suddenly noticed a familiar red cape in the hindmost corner of the library.

She immediately felt bad about the prejudice. It seemed that Ruby was determined to expand her knowledge after all. But why did she ditch Dr. Oobleck's lecture then? Weiss pulled up her Scroll and texted Yang and Blake a simple "Found her. Library. No idea why. Seems fine, though", then she approached her team leader.

Ruby seemed to be in her own little world, highly concentrated on some kind of schematics. She was scribbling down notes furiously, which only concerned the heiress even more. The crimsonette didn't seem to notice her, even though she was now standing right behind the younger girl.

Now Weiss could take a better look at all the books on the desk, and there were a lot! They were all about combat tactics, battle stances and wielding heavy weaponry properly. Most of them were just theoretical but there also were some kind of experiential reports from famous Huntsmen and Huntresses. Why would Ruby shut herself off to read something like that... or rather analyze it as if her life depended on it?

* * *

The younger girl almost jumped out of her skin as Weiss cleared her throat behind her.

"What on earth do you think you're doing here?", the heiress scolded Ruby, yet she made sure to do it quietly since she didn't want to disturb any other students in the library.

"Weiss... oh, I...", the crimsonette stammered, apparently in a better mood since their last encounter, "I was just... umm... looking up something important."

"Something so important to you to cut class and don't tell your team anything about your whereabouts?", the heiress snarled sarcastically, "We were worried! Your sister's probably rampaging in the courtyard right now, beating up people so they'll tell her if they saw you."

"What's the matter?", Ruby asked, now slightly annoyed again, "You guys also disappear from time to time for a few hours and nobody is worried. So stop treating me like a child."

"You got beaten up, were really downcast afterwards, shut yourself off completely, cut a class and proactively rejected your sister's calls.", Weiss recited the events, "An adult would have come to the conclusion that maybe their behavior attracted less attention if they just texted something like "I'm at the library, studying for something.", rather than taking your actions. Please correct me if I am wrong." Ruby wanted to make a witty retort but then deflated. She knew her partner was right.

"At least induct me into these _crucial_ studies of yours.", the heiress demanded, "What was so important to skip Oobleck's class and abandon your team? I noticed that your consulted literature is mostly about heavy melee weapons, most of it far outdated, if you're asking me." This comment made Ruby deflate even more.

'Not that I'm still behaving like a self-pitying child...', the crimson-haired girl thought bitterly, 'I can't even study right...'

Weiss noticed her leader's mood swing and then realized her mistake.

'And that's exactly why Blake and Yang didn't want _me_ to find Ruby.', the heiress thought, 'Come on, Weiss. You can do better than that. Show some sympathy.'

"Don't just sit there and pout at me. Speak up.", she sighed with a frown. 'Way to go, Weiss...', she scolded herself again inwardly.

"It's about that stupid sparring match.", Ruby said gloomily, "I made so many stupid mistakes and I wanted to know where I was wrong and improve myself. I just... don't want to disappoint you guys anymore."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. Did the match really affect Ruby that much?

"But then again, your leader made the team look pretty bad today, didn't she...", Ruby chuckled full of self-loathing, "I know I'm not perfect but... today, I was just a total failure. I thought, after a whole year at Beacon, I was... dunno... at least better than _that_."

The heiress had no idea her leader was feeling this way and to see her like this really didn't feel right.

"Don't drag yourself down by looking at one simple defeat.", she reminded the younger girl, "Your sparring statistics are still quite prodigious. I mean, you win a lot of your matches."

"Against someone like Cardin or his goons?", Ruby responded, "I wouldn't take that into account. When I have to fight against someone who's a _real_ opponent I'm usually just scraping by somehow... or they just mop the floor with me. I want to be a leader you all can be proud of but..." Her eyes started to tear up.

"You fought against Pyrrha Nikos, Ruby.", Weiss reminded her younger friend, "The girl who won the Mistral Regional Tournament four times in a row. The girl who was on top of the sparring ranking the whole last year. There's no shame in losing to her."

"That's not it...", Ruby groaned, "It's not about that I lost, it's about how I lost. I... I just didn't think this match would be so totally one-sided... I just feel... worthless..." She tried to suppress a sob, not wanting to cry like the child her partner thought she was.

Weiss sighed. Admittedly, the heiress also was raised to strive perfection but _this_ was just ridiculous... in a very sad way. The poor girl in front of her was worried that she could never live up to someone's expectations - a feeling Weiss could sympathize with. But still, the crimson-haired girl was different from her. She didn't try that hard because she wanted to be appreciated or praised by anyone but because she genuinely just wanted to be the best, most reliable team leader she could ever be. She didn't want to take, only to give.

"Ruby, you're fine.", Weiss tried to comfort her, "You're always forgetting that you are two years younger than the rest of the other students. Still, your level of skill is almost on par with everyone here. And these students went through the really difficult last years of combat school. _You_ didn't, but you're here, aren't you? You also managed to catch up with your missing subjects despite the horrid amount of work you have to do for your regular classes simultaneously. There is nothing you have to worry about. Professor Ozpin thinks so, too. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had you transferred to Beacon this early and he wouldn't have made you our team leader on top of that. So stop being upset with yourself... I... really don't want to see you like this."

Suddenly, Weiss was be taken aback. Where did that last part come from? Everything in her explanation had been reasonable and comprehensible... but this? Maybe she was just tired or overworked, let alone the fact she had some trouble with her... physique today.

Ruby sniveled one last time, then she stood up. "Thank you so much, Weiss.", she said and gently pulled her friend into a tight hug. But it wasn't like Ruby's usual, cheerful hugs. This one was... far more emotional. Weiss felt their cheeks brushing against each other and a soft hand rubbing the back of her neck. Ruby seemed to cling to her like she was the only thing that mattered to the crimsonette right now... like she was some kind of live buoy that kept her from drowning. It felt like something Weiss was yearning for her entire life: to be important, if not crucial to another person's very being. And then there was the overwhelming warmth Ruby's body was radiating... and the scent of roses.

The heiress was stunned. She suddenly felt like her face was on fire. And as if that wasn't enough she felt that fire creeping down her body. First, it went through her chest, which was surprisingly pleasant and almost made Weiss want to return the hug. But then it crept further downwards to another body part of hers and her eyes widened in shock.

'Oh no! This can't be! And why does this happen every time Ruby does something ni... I mean, annoying?', the white-haired girl thought aghast. Unsure if she could keep it under control, she had to leave immediately, or maybe her partner would soon feel something really odd poking her. And if she or anybody else would find out about her secret, that would, besides ruin this wonderful moment ('What is wrong with me?!', Weiss thought), also be the end of her life at Beacon...

"Yeah... you're welcome, I guess...", the heiress said hastily and wriggled herself out of the embrace, much to Ruby's dismay, "Glad, I could cheer you up, but... I just remembered I still have... umm... stuff to do." With these cryptic words, Weiss turned on her heel and left, leaving a puzzled Ruby behind. But the heiress soon came to the conclusion that this was the right thing to do, because...

...her mind was on repeat once more: 'Not again, not again, not again...'

In the library, so was Ruby's: 'Stupid, stupid, stupid...'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ruby did it again... Well, maybe Weiss gets the hint that her body is probably trying to tell her something anytime soon.
> 
> As for Ruby's doubts: I hope the description of her train of thought was comprehensible. I believe it's natural to feel like she does after her utter defeat in the sparring match and to think that she didn't improve enough.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please review and stay tuned for there is more to come! LCS


	5. It's More Fun If Everyone Is Going

Twice... It had happened twice in such a short time. That had never happened before. After Weiss had gotten rid of an erection there were _at least_ one or two days she usually didn't have to worry about it. But this time it happened twice, in an interval of barely seven hours! And every time Ruby had been involved.

'Is it about her?', Weiss thought, kind of scared, 'These disgusting things happen more often when Ruby is around... since... Ruby is around... But why?! What's about that dolt to trigger something obnoxious like that?'

Was this _miscreation-puberty_ , as Weiss put it, really about her crimson-haired partner? Was it really possible that there was a causal relationship? Was it possible that her disturbing body was trying to tell her something?

'No way!', the heiress told herself again, the umpteenth time today, 'This is just about that she's the only one hugging me! And every time, she does it in the most inconvenient situations. There's nothing about this, and _especially her_ , that would lead to some kind of these inappropriate... things. The way she touches my skin, caresses my hair... Her warm, smooth body pressed against mine in the process... wait... NO!!! THAT DOLT JUST DOESN'T KNOW ANY BOUNDARIES!!!'

Weiss had to visit yet another public restroom to get rid of her horrid condition. Fortunately, no other students were in there again, so she could do her deed unnoticed. After it was done, much to Weiss' disgust, she considered it was the best to return to the dorms. She had already informed her teammates about Ruby's whereabouts, so there was no need to continue wandering through the hallways of the academy.

* * *

But what the heiress saw when she got back to their room was kind of odd. Yang and Blake were preparing their backpacks with clothes, canned goods and some other utensils needed for a longer journey. Her teammates didn't seem to be in a very good mood while they stuffed their belongings into the sturdy bags with the Beacon emblem.

"What's going on here?", Weiss asked as she made her way into the dorm room.

"Dual missions starting next week.", Yang grunted, kind of irritated, "Blake and me ('Blake and I.', the heiress thought annoyed) are going on ours on Monday. Just got a message from Goodwitch. So much for some peace and quiet..."

"Urgh... Stop whining.", Blake sighed, "And by the way, I thought you were excited to get a chance to break some stuff."

"It's a scouting mission.", Yang reminded her partner, "I don't think there is much fighting to do. That's why I'm so annoyed being picked so soon. We have to do the dirty work for the cool, dangerous final missions we can't even take part in." With these words, she stuffed her sleeping mat into her already overfilled backpack.

"Why are you picked this early?", Weiss asked, "And why wasn't the rest of the team informed, anyway?"

"The staff appoints the teams in alphabetical order.", the cat-Faunus explained, "And they make sure that no team is sent on these dual missions entirely. While the two of us are off, you and Ruby have to visit the lectures and take notes, even if the second-year's schedule is slimmed down for the time the missions are waiting to be dealt with."

"Alphabetical order?", Weiss raised an eyebrow, "That's a rather uncreative system."

"Thanks again, Miss _**B**_ _elladonna_!", Yang said with a snarl, emphasizing the 'B', "I wanted to have some time to prepare... and also some fun since they are fewer classes. At least a little longer, like _**R**_ _ose_ or _**S**_ _chnee_ who won't be called up for at least two or three weeks... like _**X**_ _iao Long_ was supposed to, too."

"Stop your whining already...", Blake grunted again, "The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we're off the hook and can enjoy fewer classes for about three weeks..."

"That might be true.", Yang admitted, "But I'm still mad at your last name, kitty-cat."

"Whatever...", Blake sighed.

* * *

The two play-fought a little longer while they continued to prepare their equipment. Weiss went to the shared desk next to the door and started to read through the 60 pages Doctor Oobleck had requested them to read. She didn't really want to, but she had something to do to busy herself. What the heiress really wanted to do was sleeping since she was somewhat exhausted from today's _events_ but it was just about five o'clock and taking a nap right now would probably be suspicious.

An hour later, Yang and Blake were done with their preparations and decided to head to the cafeteria for dinner. Since Weiss was bored out of her brains of Oobleck's assignment, she wasn't opposed to joining them - after all, she couldn't even enjoy her lunch properly today because of the trouble Ruby had caused.

"What was my sister actually doing in the library when you found her?", Yang suddenly asked the heiress as if she could read the white-haired girl's mind.

"Studying some combat tactics.", Weiss answered indifferent, "Probably because she lost the match against Pyrrha."

"Sounds like she is kind of a sore loser.", Blake said.

"Yeah... on that score, my sister can be a bit childish sometimes.", Yang added.

"Indeed...", Weiss admitted but bit back the actual reason why Ruby was doing it; because she thought she was a no-good leader. The heiress doubted that it was a good idea to bother her teammates with the younger girl's worries. Also, if Ruby wanted them to know about her doubts she'd tell them herself.

* * *

When they entered the cafeteria they immediately noticed two things: First, on their usual table sat a _huge_ pile of books, and second, behind said pile, they caught a glimpse of something that looked like a red cape. They didn't have to be geniuses to put two and two together.

"Looks like sis is still busy trying to figure out how to kick Pyrrha's butt next time.", Yang noted with a smirk.

"At least this obsession didn't make her forget to eat.", Blake said a little relieved, "After all, she skipped lunch today, even though she knows they have strawberry cake for dessert on Thursdays."

"As if that dolt doesn't eat enough sugar already.", Weiss sighed.

They made their way to the table and saw the younger girl absentmindedly stuffing her face with mashed potatoes while scanning through two books simultaneously and scribbling down a ton of notes. She was so absorbed in her own little world that she almost jumped out of her skin (again) as the rest of team RWBY addressed her.

"Easy there, little Red.", Yang tried to soothe her, "We don't mean no harm."

"Yaaang! You startled me!", Ruby whined, "You guys need a bell or something."

"What's with all the books?", Blake now asked, "Is it really that important to win over Pyrrha next time that you had to ditch a class and worried your entire team?"

'Very sensitive, Blake...', Weiss thought, 'Like a bull in a china shop.'

"I've told you not to worry.", Ruby sighed defeated, "I was just working on my combat strategy."

"Leaving the arena basically fuming, yelling at Weiss and then shutting yourself off completely isn't exactly something not to worry about.", Blake deadpanned, "And it's especially not like you."

Ruby was starting to get a little angry at the fact that her teammates still thought they had to look after her like she was a little kid. But getting angry would be suspicious and she didn't want to let her team know about her insecurities. She already regretted having told Weiss about the matter, even if she had really enjoyed all the nice words and soothing attempts from the heiress. But right now, she had to change the subject and she already knew exactly how: By distracting Blake and annoying the rest of her team.

"Well, as a lady I reserve the right for myself to have a complex and mysterious personality, therefore, not all of my actions may be purr-fectly understood by my fellows.", the crimson-haired girl said overly dramatic, "And now you assume to have deciphered the mind of a Ruby Rose, Miss Belladonna? You've got to be kitten me... get it? Kitten... Guys?" The three older girls just stood in front of their leader with a more than confused expression. Suddenly, there was an awkward silence.

Blake was the first one to break it. "Wow... That sounded like a mixture of incredibly snobby Weiss-talk and _really_ bad Yang-puns.", the Faunus stated, "You really spend far more time with them than what seems to be healthy."

At her left, Weiss was grinding her teeth and snarled: "I'm telling you for the umpteenth time: I don't sound like that!"

At her right, however, Yang pretended to wipe a tear from her eye and said, emotionally touched: "The student became the master."

Ruby grinned inwardly as she thought to herself: 'Mission accomplished!'

They held their meal mostly in silence. Fortunately for Ruby, her teammates didn't bother her with any more questions, probably due to her highly effective problem-solving strategy. After they had finished eating, they went back to the dorms. The younger girl was glad that she now had a few helping hands to carry her books - the rest of the team was still wondering how their leader got the impressive pile to the cafeteria alone in the first place.

* * *

At team RWBY's room, Ruby immediately noticed Yang's and Blake's overly stuffed backpacks resting at the foot of Blakes bunk. When Yang noticed her sister's confused look, she simply said: "Oh, right... We forgot to mention. On Monday, Blakey and I are sent on our mission. Goodwitch told us earlier."

"Already?", Ruby asked confused.

"Yeah... long story.", Blake explained, "We are summoned in alphabetical order, so Yang and I have to go first."

"Thanks again, Miss _**B**_ _elladonna_.", Yang teased.

"I thought we were done with this.", Blake sighed.

"Aaanyway...", Yang suddenly began, "Since the last weekend before our departure is coming up, how about we come up with a plan to make this the best weekend ever."

"Another food fight?", Weiss asked flouting.

"Nah! You're thinking way too small.", Yang retorted with a grin, "I'm talking about painting the town red. Ladies' night out in Vale. Clubs, booze, boys, brawls... the whole nine yards!"

"Isn't your sister a bit too young to go out clubbing and drinking all night long?", Weiss pressed. She wasn't really interested in all of these things and maybe with Ruby she had the perfect excuse not to go without being the buzzkill.

"Not with a fake ID card.", Yang grinned, "Besides, I know a few guys in the scene, so even if plan A doesn't work there's no sweat. And if she wants to drink a little, don't worry, I'll keep an eye on her, so she doesn't overdo it."

Weiss just rolled her eyes at that last remark and from Blake came a suppressed chuckle.

"Hey?! What's that supposed to mean?", Yang asked irritated.

"Excuse me, but if you should keep an eye on someone's drinking habits, you should keep it on your own.", the Faunus stated.

"I second that.", Weiss added, "You came home late at night and inebriated on more than one occasion, waking up everybody in the process."

"What's with all the hate all of the sudden?", Yang gnarled, "I'm trying to plan our _Super Amazing Fun Time_ and everyone here treats me like some old boozer." 'I'm kind of feeling like Uncle Qrow and I don't like it one bit...', she thought.

"Come on, guys.", Ruby intervened now, "Yang isn't this bad. And I'd love to have a girls' night out, too."

"Okay, I'm in.", Blake relented, "Might be actually a nice change of pace."

"Awesome!", Yang cheered, then she turned to her other teammate, "How 'bout you, Ice Queen?"

"I'll pass.", Weiss said plainly. She had no intentions of going out partying, especially with her team... with one person in particular.

"Come on, Weiss. It'll be fun.", Ruby tried to persuade her friend, "Think of it as a team bonding exercise." The heiress just wanted to express her disdain about Yang's stupid weekend plan but she made the mistake to look into the younger girl's eyes - her hopeful, pleading, puppy-dog eyes.

"Pleeeaaase?", Ruby begged, "It's more fun if everyone is going."

Weiss couldn't believe what escaped her mouth now. "Fine... I'll come, too.", she sighed in defeat, "But this better be good."

"Yaaay!", Ruby cheered and attempted to hug Weiss again but as soon as she noticed that the heiress backed away a little she stopped herself, much to her own disappointment.

"Believe me, it will be.", Yang assured Weiss enthusiastically, "I know just the right place to go to. We're going to have the time of our lives!"

"I highly doubt this...", Weiss sighed again, "But one can hope for a pleasant, yet unlikely surprise..."

* * *

The rest of the evening team RWBY tried to work through the assignment Doctor Oobleck had given them earlier that day. Especially Ruby was aghast at the horrid amount of pages they had to read; she, on top of that, still had to go through the notes of today's regular lecture about the topic. And there were plenty since the green-haired teacher was able to squash a 6-hour speech into a 2-hour lecture due to his unbelievable speaking tempo. Blake and Weiss were still wondering why they hadn't gotten a graphospasm while trying to keep up their note-taking.

As usual, Weiss worked on the desk, Blake on her bunk and Ruby and Yang on the floor. Since Ruby had to go through the notes of Blake and Weiss first, Yang suggested that they could split up the 60 pages equally between each other and then compare notes, _of course_ without any ulterior motives. Ruby wasn't fooled by her sister for a second but agreed nonetheless since it would reduce her own workload. A comment from Weiss about laziness and proper work ethics was ignored by them.

Since the heiress had already done some of the reading and note-taking before dinner, she was the first one to finish, even before Ruby and Yang who only had half the work to do. It was satisfying to be done with today's workload but now Weiss didn't have anything left to busy herself with anymore. She checked the time on her Scroll. It was barely nine, probably still too early to go to bed. Also, she doubted that she could find any sleep anyway soon since two of her teammates were mostly chatting instead of doing their reading.

Although Weiss was still exhausted from the events of the day, she didn't want to sleep anymore at all. Sleep would bring tomorrow and she really wasn't up for tomorrow, drinking at some bar or club like she was some kind of pleb. Of course, Yang would suggest such a degrading pastime. She should've just told the blonde she had no interest in participating in such a waste of time. But why... oh, right.

Weiss glared at her leader from the corner of her eyes. Why did she agree to this stupid boozing disguised as a _team activity_ after Ruby's pleading? Admittedly, the crimsonette was probably right, it would be more fun for everyone if they stuck together as a team, despite the fact that the heiress wasn't exactly a fun person in the first place. It had been a logical argument but had this really been enough to convince her? No, most certainly not. But why had she agreed then?

'Those darn puppy-dog eyes.', Weiss thought suddenly, 'I agreed because Ruby gave me this stupid look. And since when I'm this easy to manipulate? Did she know it would work? Did that dolt play on me?'

The heiress pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a deep sigh. It would be weird if she changed her mind now so suddenly. Besides, it was just going to town and having a drink with her teammates. Even if she didn't really like this sort of activity it probably wouldn't kill her - but who knew, Yang was planning the event after all.

Ruby noticed the sigh of her white-haired friend and asked: "Is everything alright, Weiss? You look a little flustered."

"I'm fine.", the heiress reassured her, "Just tired. Your little escapade today didn't exactly help with that, thank you very much."

"I'm sorry.", Ruby apologized crestfallen, "I promise, the next time I won't be this childish anymore."

"I would prefer that there isn't a next time but I guess you have to take what you can get.", Weiss said, then she stretched and yawned, "I'm going to get ready for bed. If I am going to participate in this _team bonding exercise_ tomorrow (she tried to put as much sarcasm as possible in these three words) I want to be at least well rested. So if you haven't finished your homework yet, please reduce the noise to a minimum."

"Aye aye, princess!", Yang grinned and did a mock salute, "And believe me, for what I have in mind for tomorrow you should be as well rested as you can be. I have the whole thing planned out already."

"Yaaang!", Ruby scolded her with a tad of annoyance, "You're supposed to do your reading, not playing party planner. I don't want to have to finish this tomorrow morning."

Weiss shook her head, grabbed her nightgown and left for the bathroom.

'Is it really too late to come up with an excuse for staying home tomorrow?', she thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Girls night out! Yay!
> 
> Don't worry, this won't be any of these stories where one or both of them is/are drunk and does/do something stupid that initiates the relationship (even though I like these kinds of stories, too). But I already have something different in mind for Ruby and Weiss getting together.
> 
> But still, uptight Weissy in a night club? This is going to be fun.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review and stay tuned!


	6. Team Bonding Exercises

Friday's lectures seemed to fly by and also weren't as tiring as usual. The professors probably had kept in mind that lots of second-year students had to go on their missions on Monday, so they adjusted the difficulty. Before team RWBY knew what had happened, it was evening.

"So, fellas. I hope you are ready to have the time of your lives!", Yang shouted as the four girls were getting ready to head to town.

"I still can't believe I agreed to go boozing with a brute, a child and... well, Blake is probably the only normal one in this room. Besides me, of course.", Weiss sighed disdainfully.

"I'm not a child anymore.", Ruby pouted, "I'm sixteen now and legally allowed to drink and go to a club."

"You're only allowed to consume and purchase undistilled alcoholic beverages like beer or wine and have to leave any facility with serving of alcoholic beverages by no later than midnight.", Blake added like she just read it from some legal text.

"And that's why she turned eighteen four months ago on this bad boy.", Yang grinned and held up a fake ID card. Ever since Ruby had turned sixteen the blonde had one of her shadier friends in town make it for situations like this. And now it finally had its premiere.

"If anybody catches her, she, and probably we, too, are toast.", Weiss said as she pinched the bridge of her nose, "I know you don't care about stuff like that but I for one place some importance on my reputation."

"Don't worry, princess. I told you I know the guy who's running the club.", Yang reassured, "As long as Ruby's with me, I'm pretty sure she doesn't even have to show her ID. No sweat, as promised."

"We're still breaking the law.", Weiss pointed out, then added defeated, "But I guess nothing I'm going to say will be even noticed by you, let alone change your mind one bit, am I right?"

"Ding! Ding! Ding!", Yang said in her best intonation of a game show host, "One hundred points to the Ice Queen. One hundred points are worth exactly one shot. Come on, dress up everybody, first round's on me."

'I'm sooo going to regret this tomorrow.', the heiress thought.

* * *

Since Weiss had no idea what kind of facility Yang had chosen for their _girls' night out_ , she had dressed in a knee-length, sleeveless white dress, a small amount of jewelry and her usual platform heels. It was a bit more formal than her normal attire, but not to a degree that she would appear overdressed if the club would be a little less... classy...

Yang seemed to have a different idea about dressing for a club. She wore incredibly short black jeans shorts, a strapless yellow crop top and obviously a push-up bra that made her already enormous bust appear even bigger. The attire was completed by thigh-high western boots. The only thing that separated the blonde from the woo-girl stereotype was the missing cowboy hat. Describing her outfit as slutty would probably be an understatement.

Blakes attire was definitely more decent, but still far from any kind of formal wear. She wore a tight-fitting pair of pants, a black crop top (not as short as Yang's though) and a white vest with coattails over it. She still wore her usual low-heeled boots but not her bow to hide her ears. They probably wouldn't stand out that much anyway in a shady night club and it was nice not to need to hide them from time to time.

Ruby probably looked the most casual of the four of them. She was dressed in a normal pair of black jeans (she didn't want to wear a skirt in a club), a white blouse under her usual black and red corset, her combat boots and, of course, her red cloak. Her teammates had told her it would probably look weird to wear something like that in a night club, or even bring some unwanted attention since they were trying to lay low because of the fact that the crimsonette was underage but Ruby (being Ruby) couldn't bring herself to part with it.

* * *

They were currently on an airship heading to town, then they would make their way through Vale to their final destination. It was just about nine p.m., probably a little early to go to a night club, but Yang had assured everyone that even in the early hours there would be some action. And before the peak time, around eleven, they could just take a drink at the bar until the atmosphere got hot.

"Please don't get so shit-faced that we have to carry you back to the dorm.", Weiss pleaded as she watched the sunset out of one of the airship's windows. Her other teammates raised an eyebrow at the heiress' unusually vulgar choice of words but Yang didn't seem to mind.

"Wouldn't dream of it, princess.", she said grinning and, probably just to piss the white-haired girl off, pulled a tiny flask out of one of her even tinier pockets, " Anyone who wants a sip?"

"I'll pass.", Blake said plainly, "And you should, too. Would be stupid to start drinking already when we're not even at the club, wouldn't it?"

"You're no fun.", Yang scoffed, "How 'bout you, lil' sis?"

"Nope.", Ruby said, popping the 'P' as usual and continued in her best Professor Port impression, "As your fearless leader it is my duty to supervise this team activity, so I need a sober mind to stay vigilant... Maybe later.", she then added with a giggle.

"Argh.", Yang groaned, "And I guess I don't even have to ask the Ice Queen?"

"Most certainly.", Weiss simply responded without even looking at the blonde.

"I thought tonight would go a little different.", Yang sighed, took a sip out of her flask and put it back into her pocket, "I hope you're all more chill when we get to the club."

They heard a whirring noise as the airship deployed its landing gear, soon followed by a _thud_ as it kissed the ground.

'There's no turning back now...', Weiss thought.

* * *

"Wooow!", Ruby exclaimed as the four girls stood in front of the club. It was a huge, classy looking building, fitting perfectly into the rest of town. If it wasn't for the neon signs above the door, it could've passed as just another residence... well, a quite expensive residence.

"Impressive, huh?", Yang said with a grin as she saw her sister gawking, "It's even better on the inside. Come on, guys. As I told you, first round's on me."

The rest of her team followed the blonde to the entrance. In front of it stood a sturdy man, probably a bouncer, so Ruby nervously fumbled for her fake ID. But before she could get it, the guy stepped aside to let Yang through and, with a tilt of his head, he signalized the other girls to follow her. In his eyes, they saw what could be described as some kind of silent respect, and maybe a hint of... fear?

If the outside of the club appeared huge, then the inside could only be deemed colossal. In front of them was a gigantic dance floor, circumscribed by four glass pillars at the corners. Here and there where some holo-projectors fitted into the floor, depicting holograms of trees and other stuff which changed color with the lighting systems on the ceiling and provided a quite unique atmosphere. On the opposite of the entrance was some kind of stage where the DJ's table was located. Typical electronic dance music blasted from the speakers everywhere but it wasn't overly loud yet since the club was almost empty at this hour. On the right side were some doors located, which probably led to the restrooms or to other floors. On the left was a huge bar that covered almost the entire wall. And this was Yang's destination. The other girls followed her without a word.

* * *

"Blondie!", a tall guy tending the bar exclaimed as Yang approached, "Please tell me you're not here to wreck my club again."

"You say that every time I'm here since this _little incident_ from over a year ago, Junior.", Yang responded with a grin and sat down on one of the bar stools, "I thought we're friends now."

" _Little incident?_ ", Junior frowned, "This place was a dump back then."

"Yeah, I know. I apologize... again.", Yang sighed, "Can we just stop this little chit-chat we're _always having_ when I'm here and just have a fun night?"

"Fine with me...", Junior muttered, "So what it's to be? The usual?"

"Yup! Strawberry Sunrise. No ice.", Yang ordered, "Oh, and don't forget..."

"I know. The stupid little umbrella...", Junior cut her off, then he addressed the other girls, "And what would you like?"

"Oooh! Strawberry Sunrise sounds nice.", Ruby chirped, "I wanna try one."

"Aren't you a little young to be in this club, Red?", Junior asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Ever get that feeling of déjà vu?", Yang chuckled since the tall bartender had asked her the very same question at her own first time at the club, "Come on, Junior. Don't be a buzzkill. You wouldn't want to get me feisty tonight, would you?"

Junior simply grunted at that last remark and turned to Blake.

"I'll have a White Atlesian.", the Faunus said. At Yang's chuckle (since it was a drink with milk she had ordered) she simply hissed, "Shut up! And don't you dare to make a cat joke."

"And you?", Junior finally addressed Weiss.

"Just a water, please.", the heiress answered.

"Oh, _come on!_ ", Yang yelled annoyed, "I thought we were cutting loose tonight. And _you_ probably need it more than anybody here. Maybe, with a little alcohol, the stick in your ass would finally fall out for a change."

"I wouldn't have exactly chosen these words to describe it...", Blake intervened because she saw the heiress getting angry, "But Yang's not completely wrong here. You're always so overzealous at school. Sometimes you have to relax and just... well... enjoy yourself. You guys told me that too last year, remember?"

"I have other activities to participate in for my personal enjoyment, thank you very much.", Weiss countered snottily.

"Don't pressure her if she doesn't want to, Blondie.", Junior suddenly said as he returned with their drinks, "Would probably end badly if a lightweight like her would try to keep up with you."

"Hey!", Weiss exclaimed annoyed. The rest of her team just laughed at the bartender's comment.

* * *

They sat at the bar for quite some time, chatting, telling jokes and sipping their drinks. Well, Blake and Ruby sipped their drinks. Yang, on the other hand, seemed to be afraid the consumption of alcohol would be prohibited by tomorrow, so she intended to make tonight count.

At about eleven the club got flooded with more and more people. Peak time. Soon the dance floor was cramped and the music had gotten consequently louder. It was getting more and more difficult to hold a conversation.

"How about we move this to the dance floor?", Yang suggested, "Y'know, turning a few heads?"

"Yay!", Ruby cheered, "Dancing without heels!" Out of the corner of her eyes, she glanced at Weiss, imagining to dance with her white-haired friend. As in _with_. A faint blush covered her cheeks at the thought. Fortunately, the heiress didn't see it.

"I'm fine with that.", Blake responded in her usual composed tone, "Since we're at a club..."

"Well, I guess since I already declined the drinking part, this is where I have to participate so this whole _team bonding_ thing would be of any use.", Weiss shrugged, "And since I don't want to be dragged out here for nothing, I can at least try to enjoy it a little."

"Aaalright!", Ruby announced, "Team RWBY departs on their next mission! Hitting the dance floor! Banzai!"

"Please don't do that anymore...", the heiress sighed, "Ever..."

* * *

The four girls barged their way through the crowd to find an unoccupied space on the dance floor. When they found a spot, Yang immediately started to shake her body to the music and even Blake and Ruby followed suit after a short while. The only one who suddenly felt weird about all this was Weiss. She also tried to sway back and forth a little but it looked probably either a little too forced or too sluggish.

"What's the matter, Weiss?", Yang shouted to drown out the loud music, "You said you wanted to enjoy yourself but you really don't look the part."

"This stuff is not exactly my taste of music.", Weiss yelled back, "I just need some time to adjust." She continued to sway to the beats half-heartedly but really couldn't find any joy in it, unlike her teammates.

'Why can't I just have a good time for a change?', she thought, annoyed with herself.

Then she saw that Yang was whispering something into Blake's ear and the Faunus started to grin.

'They're probably laughing at me.', the white-haired girl assured herself, 'No, Weiss. They're your friends, so don't always assume the worst. But why are they giggling and glancing at me then?'

The mystery was soon solved. The moment Weiss shook the negative thoughts out of her head and tried to relax, Yang appeared to her left and started to twerk against the heiress.

"Is this helping you to _adjust_?", she asked teasingly and with a mischievous grin.

"What the hell are you doing?!", Weiss yelled flustered. She wanted to back away but, in an instant, Blake appeared to her right and copied Yang's _dance move_. Now it was obvious what she and Yang were whispering about: it had to be about this stupid prank!

"What about you, lil' sis?", Yang asked with a shit-eating grin, "Wanna help the Ice Queen cutting loose a little?"

Ruby blushed at what her teammates did to the helpless heiress. She wished she had had the courage to do this. But on the other hand, now seems to be the perfect opportunity: Her teammates were already doing it and if she joined in it would look like she was just participating in this little joke without appearing weird.

The two Strawberry Sunrises in her bloodstream helped her to make her decision. And with a small smile, she just went for it.

Unfortunately for the heiress, the only place that was currently unoccupied... was her crotch.

A blazing hot sensation jolted through Weiss' entire body as Ruby's butt was pressed into it. To make it worse, the crimsonette started to move her behind up and down, just like Yang and Blake. But Weiss didn't care about them, Ruby on the other hand...

These warm, soft butt cheeks in her crotch were too much to handle. A certain part of her body responded immediately.

"Get away from me!", the heiress shrieked and roughly pushed her teammates away. The color of her face had to rival the hood of her partner right now, Weiss was certain of it.

'But how can my face get so red when all of my blood is rushing... Oh no!', Weiss thought as she tried to control her body, 'What do I do now?! I have to get rid of these feelings, but how? I won't do _this_ again, not here... Come on, Weiss, think. Before it's too late.' In the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the bar.

'Of course!', she suddenly realized, 'Alcohol! It will numb these stupid emotions and I have an excuse to get away from Ruby! I mean, my team in general... Why am I suddenly so fixated on that dolt?!'

With this in thought, Weiss rushed to the bar and left her confused teammates behind.

"I think we overdid it a little.", Blake said to Yang, "She seems reeeaaally pissed this time."

"It was just a little joke.", Yang responded with a shrug, "She'll get over it. Not the first time the Ice Queen is fuming."

Ruby just looked after her white-haired partner, scolding herself in her mind again. Why had she thought that _that_ was a good idea in the first place?

* * *

When Weiss had returned to the bar, she immediately waved the tall bartender nearer.

"Listen here, Junior. I changed my mind.", the heiress began, "I want some of your best gin, and make it a double. And every time you see me with an empty glass, I want another one without needing to call for it. Do you understand?"

"Whoa. What's gotten into you, shorty?", Junior asked, confused about the flood of words he had just heard, "Trouble with these little friends of yours?"

The white-haired girl simply answered by fishing her wallet out of her purse and slammed a few Lien cards on the bar counter.

"Well, nevermind. I think I get it.", Junior said with a chuckle, "One Kennedy Package, no questions asked. First one's coming right up, shorty."

"Don't call me that!", Weiss spat. Anger and arousal now fought a fierce battle in her mind but she was determined to end it... taking no prisoners from both sides. The first drink appeared in front of her and she downed it in one go.

"Next!", she yelled and held back a cough as the alcohol burned down her throat. But the desired effect wasn't long in coming. Her mind was numbed but only a little. Her crotch still burned where Ruby's butt had touched her. Her warm, soft butt... 'Goddamnit!'

The next gin came up and suffered a similar fate than its predecessor.

"You're slacking!", Weiss yelled, still angry but already a little tipsy, "Next!"

"Give the alcohol a chance to settle down.", Junior said nonchalantly but still poured her another drink, "A lightweight like you should be more careful with the hard stuff."

"You don't know me...", Weiss said angrily as she grabbed her drink and was about to down it again. But then she reconsidered and only took a sip. She didn't take to the bottle often, hardly ever, and when she did it was usually a fine wine, nothing nearly as strong as what she had ordered now. If this thug behind the bar was right, she would probably do something embarrassing, like vomiting or worse, and that wasn't proper behavior for a Schnee. Even what she was doing right now wasn't but Weiss didn't care at the moment. This wasn't alcohol, it was medicine, something to free her from her unnatural urges without doing... she shook the thought out of her head.

Weiss turned around and observed the dance floor. Her teammates were still out there dancing. They looked... happy. Weiss suddenly wished she could be that happy, too. But she couldn't. She couldn't because of her despised secret. And because it always seemed to act up around that stupid dolt!

She let out a sigh and continued to envy her teammates. Blake and Yang laughed happily as they were dancing, probably at her reaction to this stupid prank. The heiress couldn't make out if Ruby was laughing too since the crimsonette had turned her back to her. Weiss' eyes suddenly wandered down her partner's body on her own, only to come to rest on her jeans-clad, perfectly shaped backside. It was almost hypnotizing watching it sway from side to side.

The sight sent another shiver through Weiss' entire body and she forced herself to turn away. Then she downed her drink again and whispered to herself, utterly frustrated: "Next..."

* * *

It was about half past one in the morning when team RWBY decided to go back to Beacon. As they made their way to the airship docks, they noticed the streets were almost empty but it was still noisy inside the bars and clubs they passed. It was Friday after all and most of those facilities would remain open until four or five in the morning.

"Who've ffought lil' Weishy would cash up wiff me.", Yang slurred as she stumbled down to the airport, obviously buzzed.

"You told me t' cut loose, so I cutted... cut, I mean.", Weiss tried a little harder to form her words so her speech wouldn't appear as slurred as the blonde's, "But don't get ushed to me lishen to you."

"Well, I guess you could say tonight's _team bonding exercise_ was a success.", Blake said with a chuckle, definitely a little tipsy but far from the condition her partner and the heiress were in, "And looking at both of you I don't think you are to object."

"Nope. Zat. Was. Awesome!", Yang exclaimed, "I'm toally gonn' regret zis tomorrow, but zat's a problem Future Yang has to deal wiff."

"Even I have to admit...", Weiss said, kind of happy her mind was now completely numb, "...zis wasn't half bad. Just... don't let zis become a habit. Alcohol's bad, y'know..."

They continued their walk to the airship docks, Weiss and Yang sometimes tripping over their own feet, but Ruby and Blake were always there in time to prevent a tumble. When they were halfway there it started to drizzle a bit. It wasn't unpleasantly cold or anything but, just in time, the wind was freshening up quite a bit, making the girls shiver.

"Damnit. The weather forecast didn't say anything about that.", Blake said at the sudden change of weather and wrapped her arms around herself, "Way to screw up an otherwise great night."

"Stop whining.", Yang sighed, "I'm naturally hot-blooded. Takes more zan a lil' breeze and rain to dull ma mood."

"Me too...", Weiss agreed, "The cold never bothered me any..." Just as she was about to finish, she let out a little sneeze.

"Oh, for fuck's sake.", she sighed, "I knew it was a terrible idea to leave without a coat."

Then, all of a sudden, she felt something warm and soft wrapping itself around her shoulders. In the corner of her eye, she made out a pair of delicate hands along with some red cloth.

"There you go.", Ruby said softly as she clasped her cloak to the heiress' dress, "This should work, I guess. And the hood is gonna protect your hair since you place a lot of value on this, as I remember."

Weiss was stunned. This cloak was a very important, if not the _most important_ item in Ruby's possession. The white-haired girl knew it had something to do with her deceased mother. The crimsonette would protect this worn-out piece of cloth to the bitter end, and yet, her partner was willing to share it with her without even being asked to.

Even Blake and Yang raised an eyebrow.

"B-but what about you?", the heiress asked, suddenly a lot more sober for whatever reason.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine.", Ruby reassured her friend, "It's not like I'm gonna melt or anything."

"Umm... Th-thanks, Ruby.", Weiss stammered.

"You're welcome.", Ruby chirped and gave her a warm smile, her black, red-tipped hair already starting to stick to her forehead because of the rain.

A sudden warmth surged through Weiss' body at the sight. Something about this simple gesture and this stunning smile catalyzed a reaction within her body she couldn't quite understand. It was kind of nice, she felt appreciated and protected, yet there was another, trouble-making feeling beneath it, Weiss recognized. Fortunately, she was drunk enough that this certain part of her body missed responding. But still, the weird feeling remained.

'It'll go away...', Weiss reassured herself in thought, 'It's probably the booze causing this. Wait... didn't I drink to dull these feelings. Yeah... that was the plan... Why are they still present? Or... present again?'

Soon the airport came into view and apparently there was already an airship about to depart to Beacon Academy in a few minutes. All members of team RWBY felt pretty relieved at the sight, knowing they would soon be back in their cozy little dorm room as the rain got worse. Everybody except Weiss because these weird feelings she had won't subside a bit.

'Is it too late to ask Yang about her flask?', the heiress thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Weiss... When will she figure out what this is all about? Maybe it's about time, isn't it?
> 
> PS: The legal terms I am referring to are these in Germany. I know they're different in every country so I just went with what I'm used to. I think it fits well into the story since Ruby is two years younger than anybody else.
> 
> Stay tuned! There's a lot more to come.


	7. How You Feel About Me

This night, Weiss had some trouble falling asleep. It might have to do something with the fact that she was hammered... and also that an at least equally drunk Yang was snoring like a buzz saw barely twenty feet away from her. It was a mystery to the heiress how this hadn't kept her other teammates awake. But then again, there was something else denying the white-haired girl her much-needed rest.

She should've stayed at home this night. Yet, she hadn't. Why? It all started with Ruby's puppy-dog eyes. Those silver puppy-dog eyes. Those stupid, manipulative, childish, cute, mesmerizing silver puppy-dog eyes. Wait...

Weiss couldn't disagree with the fact that Ruby had beautiful eyes. Just objectively, of course! They were like pools of pure mercury, calm and collected, but still... There was almost always some kind of a sparkle inside of them, something energetic and thrilling, like the sky just before a thunderstorm. Even if Ruby was lazing around, if she was totally relaxed, her eyes radiated something determined, something aspiring - as if even in standby Ruby exactly knew what she wanted to become and what she was fighting for.

Then there was this head of tousled, almost messy hair. Never styled appropriately, it always looked like she just woke up. It was cut asymmetrically as if she didn't care what she looked like. Granted, Weiss' own ponytail was also off-center but neat and styled perfectly every time. Ruby's hair, however, was a chaos, an epitome of laziness, carefreeness and... freedom. Ruby didn't care what she looked like to others, she wasn't bound by social standards and things like that. She kept her hair the way _she_ liked it best and she had the courage to show it... Weiss suddenly wondered how it would feel to run her hand through it.

But these were only indicators of her strength on the inside. After a year of hard training at Beacon and her determination, the little girl now packed a fair amount of muscle. She wasn't as ripped as her older sister, though. but Weiss knew the crimsonette's body was well toned, to say at least - her stomach, her legs, her arms. These arms... so delicate, yet so strong, probably because of swinging this huge and heavy chunk of sharp, deadly metal Ruby referred to as her _sweetheart_. Weiss remembered the time back at the start of their second semester. The food fight. She had been knocked out. Yet, Ruby caught her in these strong arms and carried her to safety. Weiss had been barely conscious but she remembered that she had never felt this protected, this important to someone, this... precious.

But, of course, besides all these _external_ qualities, Ruby was a dolt. An annoying, childish, insufferable, stupid dolt... A dolt that cared for her teammates more than for her own life. A dolt that put her team and her friends always first and herself second. A... dolt... that always wanted to help the heiress and encourage her when she was feeling down and never asked for anything in return... and never changed a bit, even when she was met with indifference or even hostility.

Even if Weiss addressed her with this nickname way too often, Ruby wasn't a dolt and the heiress knew this. She was an amazing person, always eager to better herself and for her friends to benefit from it, without taking credit. Okay, she could be childish sometimes, pouting, lazing off, begging for cookies... but... wasn't that also something Weiss kind of envied? She was never allowed to be that way and her childhood had been anything but normal. No friends, no playing games, no one to confide in. Ruby was... different... but in a good way. She was most certainly a wonderful person, on the outside and inside.

'But why am I still so distant, so cold, so... hostile to her?', Weiss thought. Ruby considered them BFFs, and the white-haired girl knew the meaning of this abbreviation. She knew Ruby had only the best of intentions. So what fueled her aversion to her partner?

It hit her like a bolt from the sky.

This wasn't about Ruby being annoying. She wasn't. Well... most of the time. It wasn't like Ruby was too clingy. Weiss enjoyed it. The heiress wanted to be important to someone, to mean something to someone. She had always wanted this. Ruby genuinely wanted to be her friend, even though she almost always reacted harsh and unfriendly to her actions. The cheering, the praises, the hugs... Weiss craved them. The heiress never ever, in her entire life, felt so important, so accepted, so... loved?

She kept pushing Ruby away, but why? The crimsonette wasn't the annoyance Weiss persuaded herself her partner was. She wasn't a dolt who could be dragging her down at the wrong moment. She was her friend, her best friend. Probably her only friend.

No.

Ruby was the only person to ever like her, not out of ulterior motives but because of the goodness of her heart. And Weiss knew that her partner, the childish, somewhat annoying crimsonette was the most important person in her life. Her family wanted her to be immaculate, otherwise, she was deemed a failure. Her classmates were either indifferent or they wanted to be on good terms with her just to benefit from her last name. Her teammates, and maybe team JNPR, too, were friends with her but her attitude made even these friendships kind of difficult sometimes.

Her friendship with Ruby was different... No... It wasn't friendship...

Weiss suddenly realized that she pushed Ruby away, more than anybody else because Ruby was _this_ important, _most_ important to her. The heiress knew why she didn't let anybody close to her. It was about her _secret_... She might tell herself her life would be over if someone would find out but this wasn't true. If anybody else would discover it, she could at least retreat, probably back to Atlas, and leave everything and everyone else behind.

But not Ruby. She couldn't. If Ruby was to discover her secret, it would mean a future with Ruby knowing she was a freak, a monstrosity, which most likely resulted in a future without Ruby. If Ruby knew about her secret, Weiss would lose her. Definitely! And that was a future Weiss couldn't bear living.

That was the only reason why she kept pushing Ruby away. Otherwise... Yeah... what would be otherwise?

Even her inebriated mind was smart enough to process what all that was about. About her, about Ruby. About _them_...

'Oh, please no!', Weiss thought terrified, 'I like that dolt... in... _that_ way!'

* * *

The rise of Saturday's morning sun was as beautiful as ever above Beacon Academy. Yet, it wasn't as beautiful to someone who drank an inappropriate amount of alcohol last night.

These annoying, disturbing, DESPISED rays of light that fell through the gap in the curtains _dared_ to wake a _very_ hungover Weiss Schnee. Her eyes remained shut but she awoke anyway. Her head felt like someone was rampaging inside of it with a jackhammer. Her stomach felt like it was on fire. Her throat felt dry and swallowing was painful. Stupid Weiss from yesterday did a damn good job.

The heiress turned around in her bed, trying to get a little more sleep to help her ease the pain. It was Saturday, so no classes, she could sleep in without feeling bad about it. Fragments of last night returned to her hazy memory. She was at a nightclub with her team. Ruby did something disturbing, so she started drinking furiously... Ruby!

Something in the back of her mind reminded her of her latest contemplations. There was something about Ruby, something she did... something she was to her... first friend... amazing person... most important...

Weiss' eyes shot open immediately. Had she admitted to herself that she had feelings for Ruby?! No, that couldn't be true. She was severely inebriated last night, so her mind must've made things up. She couldn't possibly have amorous feelings for another girl, especially Ruby, could she? Yet, why did all those things about her partner came to her mind yesterday, well, today at three in the morning?

'I need a shower to sort these thoughts out...', Weiss told herself inwardly.

She turned around, ignoring her terrible headache, and looked at her scroll. It was barely seven o'clock! She only had slept for about four hours!

'Okay. Shower, then back to bed... as fast as possible.'

She stood up and the room immediately started spinning. Weiss was about to fall over but she secured herself by getting a hold on Ruby's death trap of a bed, making it swing a bit. This action was answered by a soft groan and the rustling of bed sheets as Ruby turned around in her sleep but fortunately didn't wake up.

'Okay, Weiss... Slow and steady now.', she thought, 'If you are to wake up anybody, especially Yang, by being too noisy at this hour you're probably dead meat.'

As quietly and carefully as humanly possible the heiress made her way to the bathroom. But her worries were probably without cause - as for Yang, given her snoring, one could be certain that even a nuclear apocalypse couldn't wake up the brawler in her current state.

* * *

Weiss bit back a yelp as the ice cold water from the shower head hit her. But as her body didn't welcome the sensation, the fog in her mind seemed to clear a bit.

'Okay... Ruby and I...', she contemplated, 'What is this all about? I seem to like her but is this really that kind of _like_? As in _like_ like? No, that's ridiculous... but on the other hand... No... Wait... Urgh! What am I doing here? This is ridiculous... Okay, another approach: I can't believe I seriously consider this but... _if_ I were to imagine the two of us in a romantic situation, how would I feel about that?'

She tried to imagine herself and Ruby doing couple stuff, which wasn't easy for the heiress since she had never thought about anybody this way. She decided just to stick to the clichés: Going to a movie... holding hands... kissing...

The feeling of Ruby's soft lips against her own, a hand gently caressing her cheek, running through her hair, holding her close, the whisper of sweet nothings reaching her ear... In mere seconds her mind had changed from being forced to think about this to completely running on autopilot. And Weiss smiled.

As soon as she realized she was smiling she immediately awoke from her trance.

'So it's true...', she thought aghast, 'I am... attracted to Ruby.' Then, it was suddenly obvious why her mismatched body part acted up so frequently over the past few months. 'And I'm probably for quite a while without realizing it...', she added, 'Oh... this is bad.'

But why exactly was it bad? Wasn't this supposed to be the best feeling anyone could have? Being in... love... not that the heiress thought the feeling was mutual. But being near Ruby was relaxing, refreshing. They were partners, friends even. Why couldn't she just enjoy the feeling Ruby gave her, not expecting to get anywhere but at least without worrying or thinking it to shreds?

A tingling sensation between her legs gave her a reminder.

'Oh yeah... _that_.', Weiss thought bitterly. If there was at least one reason even this simple enjoyment-thing could never work, it was about this anomalous organ she possessed.

Her mind started spinning again and she almost slipped.

'Urgh... I can't think clearly with this terrible headache.', the heiress sighed inwardly, "I guess I'll sort this stuff out completely when I'm sober again. Stupid Yang and her stupid plans."

She turned off the shower, dried herself and left to sleep a few hours longer.

* * *

Weiss awoke again at about eleven, because a pained, way too loud groan echoed through the dorm room. The white-haired girl opened one of her eyes to find the culprit. The search was concluded pretty fast: On the opposite side of the room, on Blake's bunk, Yang sat with her head in her hands.

"Never. Again.", she rasped, "Past Yang's... such an asshole."

"Shut up.", Weiss hissed, barely audible, "I'm trying to sleep."

"You look more like you're trying to die.", Yang said with a weak chuckle, "Any idea where Blake and Ruby are?"

"They're missing?", Weiss asked and tried to sit up too. Her headache wasn't a tad better. 'Past Weiss is an asshole, too.', she berated herself in her mind.

Chance brought it about that the door swung open a mere moment later and their missing teammates reentered the dorm room. Ruby carried something wrapped up in paper.

"Hey, guys.", Blake said with a mischievous grin and way too loud in Weiss' opinion, "How're you feeling?"

"Like a Boarbatusk is rampaging in my head.", the heiress groaned.

"Don't worry.", Ruby chirped, "We got you some headache pills. And BLTs from the cafeteria." She put the papered sandwiches on the desk, along with a little container, probably containing the aforesaid meds.

"Thanks, Blake, thanks, sis.", Yang sighed and rubbed her eyes, "You're lifesavers." She strode over, popped the pillbox open and took two of them.

"Why did you guys drink that much in the first place?", Ruby asked, "I mean, I kinda expected it from you, but Weiss..."

'Because when you rubbed against me on the dance floor I couldn't get the image of me doing unspeakable things to you out of my head.', the heiress thought but just responded, "Not the slightest idea."

"I guess I'll take a shower and then hit the gym.", Yang said, "I'm going to sweat out the residual alcohol or puke while trying. Either way, I'm winning." With these words and a wink, the blonde grabbed a set of clothes from the closet and left for the bathroom.

"I'm going to the library then.", Blake explained, "Just wanted to check on you guys. Have fun recovering." She then stuffed a few things in a briefcase and left again.

Ruby was left behind, with no idea what to do with herself now.

"Hmm... Gym sounds like a good idea.", she reflected her sister's words, "Have to stay in shape for my sweetheart. See you later, Weiss." The crimsonette attempted to follow Blake out the door but then she turned around again.

"Umm... if you need anything, just send me a message, okay?", she said and gave the heiress a warm smile, just like she had yesterday while giving her her cloak, "And I'll be back as quick as lightning."

Weiss felt a blush creep to her face so she buried it back into the pillow. "Fine. Whatever. Till later then.", she responded weakly and threw the covers back over herself. Soon after that, she heard the door fall shut.

'That smile again...', the heiress thought, 'And all these nice words...' The warmth in her face crept down further until it reached a certain part of her body. Fortunately, the effects of the alcohol, or her hangover, or maybe the cold shower, still seemed to apply. Weiss felt her member straining her panties a little, but it didn't get fully erect. She could definitely hide it if she stayed in bed, so she turned to the wall, trying to relax.

'Okay... living with Ruby under these circumstances is most certainly impossible...', she thought, 'What do I do now? Ignore these stupid feelings until they fade away? They probably won't. Going back to Atlas? Definitely not an option! Come on, Weiss. Have you lost that many brain cells yesterday? Think of something, anything!'

Yet, her mind was blank.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, Weiss got it. Took her long enough. But what to do now with these feelings? Since she has this anomalous thing between her legs a romance between her and Ruby is most certainly impossible. Or isn't it?
> 
> As always, thanks for reading, please review and stay tuned!


	8. A Fatal Mistake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is where the fun begins. Well, sort of. A little more smutty scene ahead, but still highly relevant to the plot. As I told you from the very beginning, even these scenes still have some impact on how the relationship of Ruby and Weiss is going to develop. The one in this chapter isn't very long (or real) either.

The weekend flew by and suddenly it was Monday. The partner missions started today, so the four girls awoke as early as five in the morning, Yang and Blake because the had to depart at six and Ruby and Weiss because they wanted to say bye and wish them good luck.

Well, Weiss didn't _really_ wanted to but not because of Yang and Blake. She still hadn't figured out how to deal with her feelings for Ruby over the weekend and being near her partner didn't particularly help. The heiress had been trying to avoid her since Saturday but Ruby's clinginess made this a little difficult.

At least the schedule of all second-year students was slimmed down for the time they were on these missions, which would be for about a month. That way, Weiss would have a lot more opportunities to isolate herself without appearing weird. Ever since she had admitted to herself she had feelings for Ruby, even sitting next to her in class was kind of stressful. She tried to focus on the lecture and to turn the crimson-haired girl out but just knowing that she was there, so close to her, made her kind of nervous.

* * *

"Why do we still have leadership class when some of the leaders are already on their missions.", Ruby whined as she and Weiss exited Professor Peach's lecture, "I want to have free time now, too."

"I don't have _free time_ , as you put it, either.", Weiss explained, annoyed by her partner's childish whining, "I'll go to the library now to copy my notes for Blake and Yang and make them look presentable."

"As if your notes don't look perfect already.", Ruby said, "Seriously, how can you write this fast and still have such a neat handwriting? When I was to write this much this fast I probably couldn't even read it myself afterwards."

"That already applies to your regular handwriting.", Weiss scoffed. She felt a little guilty for still being this prickly since she knew she... liked... Ruby but she needed to maintain her act until she had figured out what to do about it.

"Hey! I write much better now.", Ruby pouted and the heiress immediately averted her gaze as she felt a blush creep to her face.

'Why the hell must she be so darn cute...', Weiss thought, 'Wait! Did I just call Ruby cute? Oh, for fuck's sake. Why am I still denying this? I like her. Therefore, of course, she's cute.'

Ruby's voice shook her out of her thoughts: "Well, I better get going. Wanna grab a bite to eat when I'm done with leadership class?"

"I don't know how long I will be working on this.", Weiss said and pointed to the notes in the briefcase she was carrying, "I'll probably just grab an apple or something on my way to the library."

"Okay...", Ruby nodded but seemed to deflate slightly, "See you later then." With this, she turned right at the next intersection and left the heiress be.

'Another bullet dodged...', Weiss sighed inwardly, 'I really hate to shut her down, but I just can't stand being near her at the moment.' She glared at her crotch in a mixture of anger and disgust.

'Well, it's useless to rack my brains about that now. I have some work to do.'

* * *

Weiss finished preparing the notes for her teammates pretty fast and since no homework was given that day she had nothing left to do at the library. Still, she didn't leave. She didn't want to. A look at her Scroll told her that Ruby's leadership class was almost over, which increased the risk of running into her significantly. She would just figure out something to busy herself with and return to the dorm room when it was eight or nine o'clock, so she could go straight to bed without appearing suspicious.

She checked her Scroll's scheduler for any assignments left to do. There had to be something to kill a little time. Unfortunately, she didn't find anything since their workload was kept small during the mission period. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to stay at the library anyway. She had told Ruby where to find her, so what if her leader decided to come looking for her?

But where else could she go to? She didn't feel like hitting the gym. She could practice her glyphs and fighting techniques anywhere else and heavy lifting or these kinds of activity weren't her things anyway. Besides, the gym was always crowded with brutes and thugs at this hour, like team CRDL, people she usually avoided.

The cafeteria was off limits, too. Ruby had told her she would be there after her leadership class, so Weiss would most certainly run into her if she went there.

Visiting Vale was probably safe but she didn't need anything and wasn't interested in going shopping. And a half-hour long airship ride to the city just to avoid Ruby seemed ridiculous.

* * *

Weiss packed up her things and left the library. Then, she started wandering around the courtyard mindlessly. She hated it when she didn't know what to do with herself. But what would she be doing now if she wasn't avoiding Ruby? Probably hanging out with Ruby... Wow... Yang had been right. Besides hanging out with her team, primarily with her self-appointed BFF, she didn't have any joy in her life. No hobbies or other friends, just studying and practicing. She realized once more how dull her life would be if Ruby wouldn't be part of it.

She suddenly became aware of the fact that her feet had carried her to the cliffside on their own. There was a bench near Beacon's main avenue and since she had nothing better to do she sat down and admired the landscape in front of her.

Even if more than a year had passed since she had first arrived at Beacon, it was still a sight that never ceased to amaze her. Something about the cliffside was special to Weiss. Near this exact spot, she had met Ruby for the first time. The thought about their first encounter brought a smile to the heiress' face. The crimsonette had been so clumsy, so clueless and so childish, yet somehow endearing back then. And, boy, had she gotten a scolding for blowing herself and Weiss up with this explosive sneeze! But she had promised to make it up to the heiress... and she had kept her word. Weiss' smile widened as she recalled this explosive encounter that brought her crimson-haired dolt into her life. _Her_ dolt... she kinda liked the sound of that, even if she would never say or hear it outside of her mind.

Weiss was so wrapped in her thoughts that she didn't realize how long she was sitting here. When she checked her Scroll after what she thought was only _some_ time it was already eight o'clock. Additionally, she had gotten a message from Ruby: "Hey, hope I don't interrupt your work. I'm going to hit the gym again. If you need anything, you know where to find me. Happy studying ;-P"

The image of Ruby's perfectly shaped ass in tight gym shorts (mostly) involuntarily flashed through Weiss' mind and another tingling sensation between her legs indicated the approval of that thought. Weiss shook her head and pocketed her Scroll again.

'Seems like the dorm room is safe to enter now.', she contemplated, 'And Ruby won't probably be back until nine.' The white-haired girl gathered her belongings from the bench and made her way back to the dorms.

* * *

As Weiss entered their dorm room she noticed two things. First, the room was really void of Ruby, much to her relief, and second, apparently, she had left in a hurry. Her school materials had been tossed carelessly onto the desk and her school uniform laid on the ground next to the closet, so she had left without cleaning up after herself.

Wait...

It wasn't just her school uniform she had left on the floor. The crimson-haired girl seemed to have changed completely and left for the gym without putting _any_ of her clothes in the laundry basket. Including...

On top of the pile sat a pair of red lace panties, the matching bra laid next to it. Weiss didn't even know that Ruby possessed such kind of underwear. But then she remembered: Yang had given these undergarments to her sister as a gift for her sixteenth birthday, most likely just to tease her. The heiress recalled that Ruby had been utterly embarrassed when she, completely in the dark about her sister's shenanigans, had opened the gift in front of her team and team JNPR.

But Weiss had no idea Ruby actually wore them. This kind of underwear totally didn't suit the innocent crimsonette with the bubbly personality. But still...

Images of Ruby wearing them, and only them, immediately flooded the heiress' mind. The panties hugged her toned butt perfectly, while the bra encompassed her firm, perky breasts. Suddenly, the Ruby in her head laid on a bet with red, silky sheets and rose petals were scattered around her.

'Look, Weiss. I put on something sexy, just for you.', she purred in the white-haired girl's mind, 'Giving you any ideas?'

Weiss suddenly felt some discomfort in her crotch area. Her rapidly growing erection was straining her own underwear, so much actually that she thought her panties would rip any minute. There was no way to make _this_ go away by willpower. The images of Ruby didn't dare to leave her mind as Weiss, completely frozen in place, stared at the red _barely-clothing_ lying on the ground.

Shower! NOW! Then into bed immediately! But first, she had to deal with her raging boner.

Weiss thanked every higher power that she was alone right now. She stripped naked and tossed her clothes in the laundry basket. She considered to do the same with Ruby's but couldn't bring herself to touch these disgustingly slutty, utterly offending... oh so sexy undergarments. A simple look at them sent another shiver down the heiress' spine.

Shower! NOW!

* * *

Weiss threw her nightgown on the bathroom counter and stepped into the shower stall. Not a mere second later ice cold water hit her body, again, and she hissed like a cat in heat that somebody tried to drive away with a spray bottle. Yet, it hadn't the desired effect. The feeling was certainly unpleasant but her dick refused to go down. That Weiss couldn't get these _darn_ images of this _darn_ Ruby in this _darn_ underwear out of her head also didn't help.

But then, Weiss reconsidered.

She already had accepted the fact that she liked Ruby, her subconscious mind did it probably for quite some time, given the fact that her member acted up that much over the past few months. So who said she couldn't enjoy this little, seemingly unavoidable fantasy of hers for the moment? Still, something in the very back of her mind told her that this was disgusting, that _she_ was disgusting for thinking about this.

Weiss shut this little voice up immediately. She was alone right now. No one would ever now. Besides her... and she was far from caring.

Weiss adjusted the temperature of the shower until it was pleasantly warm and then wrapped her slender fingers around her erection. The heiress wondered how it would feel if this wasn't her own but Ruby's hand doing this to her. Or maybe not just her hand but... something else.

She might never have watched any porn but, of course, she knew about the concept of _making love_. She was a normal teenager, after all (well, not exactly normal, but still), and as such she had urges and desires, too (probably more than anybody else, since...)

And now the heiress had finally found someone to participate in some little fantasy, without being utterly disgusted with herself... even if she still wasn't completely comfortable with it. But it would most certainly help her to shorten the procedure... and hey, if she could also enjoy it a little this time, then so be it. Her mind started wandering: 'Now... where were we...

_Ruby and I are back on the bed with the soft, red, silky sheets again. Her underwear is long since discarded, my clothes as well. Not that I haven't appreciated that she had put on something sexy for me but for what we are about to do it would only get in the way._

_I lay on top of her and we are kissing passionately. This heavenly feeling of her warm naked body pressed against mine makes me tremble with anticipation. My erection is trapped between us and throbs with need, demanding attention. But based on Ruby's cute little moans that escape her mouth between our kisses I'm pretty sure she wants... no..._ needs _it as much as I do._

_I pull away, but only a little, grabbing my penis and lining it up with her already drenched nether regions. Oh, she really needs it._

_"Are you ready?", I whisper teasingly but I know the answer already anyway._

_"More than ever.", she tells me sweetly, "Now, please, hurry up. Don't let me beg for it..."_

_I grin and consider her last remark but I can't wait any longer myself. Slowly, I start to push into her, my tip spreading her lower lips slowly, earning a satisfied moan from her but giving her one as well in return. Then, with a vigorous thrust, I'm finally inside my lover._

_"Hng... Weiss... oh, Dust.", Ruby yelps and pulls me into a tight embrace. The velvety walls of her sex hug me perfectly as if they were made just for me. I give Ruby a soft kiss and slowly start moving, teasing a few more moans out of her._

_My crimson-haired lover is eager to participate in this change of pace and soon I feel her buck her hips against mine, begging me to thrust faster into her. We continue to make out in the process, driven by almost feral lust and desire._

_It is getting harder and harder not to cum; the way her hot, wet insides are massaging my member, trying to milk every drop of sperm out of it, is almost too much to handle. But I want to make Ruby cum at least once before I allow me to do so. Fortunately, she wouldn't last much longer, I already see all the little indications: Her ragged breathing, her shivers, the look in her half-lidded eyes. Soon, she confirms my train of thought._

_"W-weiss...", my crimson-haired lover pants, "F-faster... I-I'm so close..."_

_"Me, too.", I whisper lustfully, quickening my pace. Soon I see the last fragments of rationality leave Ruby's beautiful, silver eyes, only to be replaced by pure pleasure. There's no turning back now...'_

* * *

Now she finally had come this far, and so soon on top of it: She was fully aware of her romantic feelings for Ruby for barely two days now and yet she had defiled them already by thinking about doing unspeakable things to her while masturbating. There was, _undoubtedly_ , no way Weiss could be more disgusted with herself than in this very moment... but she couldn't care less! This was what she wanted... NEEDED right now: She pictured Ruby's naked body underneath her, gasping and moaning in pleasure as the heiress was ravaging her.

Weiss stroked her member faster and faster - she knew she was close. Pictures and voices flashed through her mind: Being inside Ruby, cumming inside Ruby... the bliss of hearing Ruby's cute voice screaming out her name as Weiss did the same, while they both climaxed together.

With a final stroke, the heiress aimed her shaft downwards and came, harder than she had ever cum in her life, crying out her team leader's name as loud as she could, as copious amounts of sperm covered the shower floor in a surprisingly thick layer.

Little did Weiss know that she wasn't alone in the dorm room anymore. She was too focused on what she was doing that she had lost track of time completely, not realizing she had spent more than half an hour under the shower head. If she'd been aware of this she'd probably have kept her voice down, but now... it was too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa... cliffhanger. I would say I'm sorry, but I'm not. We are going to get to the conclusion of the very first arc of this story, so be prepared for a lot of drama, tears, that kind of stuff. Will everything work out in the end?
> 
> As always, please review.
> 
> No 'stay tuned' this time, but be prepared to have your minds blown! I'm going to pour all of my blood, sweat, and tears into the next two chapters!


	9. I Could...

An exhausted Ruby Rose let go of the punching bag at the gym. She had been there for more than two hours. Admittedly, the experiential reports of her heavy weapon studies told her to strengthen her arm and upper body muscles as well as her thigh muscles (for a better combat stance) but this was slightly getting out of hand now. There wasn't a single part of her body that didn't hurt. The crimsonette knew she had to practice a lot more than the other students to get in the shape she wanted to wield her unusually heavy weapon properly but right now she had reached her limits for today.

She was determined to better herself, even more after her utter defeat in last Thursday's sparring match, but with each exercise, with each weight she had to lift, with each swing of her heavy scythe it got harder and harder to keep up. About half past eight she had to admit that she couldn't carry on anymore.

'If I want to keep this up tomorrow I guess I've to call it quits for today.', the crimsonette thought exhausted, 'But tomorrow I need to train extra hard, at least to make sure I won't embarrass my team anymore.'

With this in mind, she again tried to continue her exercises, only to find herself incapable of making an at least decent swing with Crescent Rose. She had given it her all today.

'Okay... back to bed and tomorrow the same commitment, at the minimum, Ruby!', she told herself inwardly, 'You need to show everyone that you're at least as capable as any other one. Ouch... I think I've overdone it a bit. My poor arms... No! Your teammates rely on you... No more dilly-dallying, got it?!' As Ruby made her way to the gym's showers, she checked the time on her Scroll.

'Maybe Weiss is back at the dorm room now. I haven't had a lot of time with my bestie today.', she thought and hurried her steps, 'But don't be too clingy this time, Ruby Rose. Y'know how Weiss gets when you're too clingy... especially over the past few weeks. You need to accept that the relationship you want with her will never happen. Just... appreciate that she's your friend and try to be happy with that...'

The last thought stung a little but Ruby shook her head and tried to stay positive: 'Yup. Friends. You can never have enough friends. Friends are something awesome.' Still, a little voice in the back of her head told her that she would _always_ want a little more than that with the white-haired girl.

* * *

By the time Weiss was still busy with herself and her problem, Ruby had returned to their dorm room, still utterly exhausted from the late training session. Even after a hot shower at the gym, her muscles were more than sore and she just wanted to brush her teeth and go to sleep. She was beyond beat, to say at least.

On her way back Ruby just had become fully aware of how ill she had dealt with herself today. Even the thought of hanging out with Weiss a little couldn't re-energize her; and since a shower was running in the bathroom, the white-haired girl had to be back from the library.

Ruby put her school uniform, which was still lying on the ground, in the laundry basket. A blush crept to her face considering the fact that she had worn the underwear Yang had given to her on her birthday today, and even more so that Weiss might have seen it. This morning (on _freaking_ five o'clock), she had picked her panties and bra in total absent-mindedness, so she went with the first thing she had grabbed out of the dark closet, not knowing it was... well... _this_. But on the other hand, there was no way Weiss would've paid any attention to this stuff in particular. The only thing the crimsonette probably had to expect was a scolding from the heiress for not putting away her dirty clothes.

Ruby shook her head to get her mind off of what Weiss would think about this kind of underwear inside her stupid, in any case impossible fantasy. Since the bathroom was occupied by her partner, all she could do for the moment was changing into her pajamas and waiting for Weiss to finish whatever she was doing - over twenty minutes now, with the water running all the time.

Then it happened! Ruby heard her teammate cry out her name and it almost sounded like she was in pain, even if it wasn't clearly audible because of the shower noises. But what other reason could Weiss have to yell her name in the bathroom? Suddenly, Ruby was wide awake again, most certain something terrible must've happened to the white-haired girl and she was yelling for help.

"Don't worry, Weiss!", the young girl yelled back, "I'm here. What's going on?" She rushed to the bathroom door only to find it locked.

"Weiss? Are you alright?", Ruby yelled again.

No response. Maybe the shower was too noisy for the heiress to hear her leader. But what if something terrible had happened for real like Weiss had slipped really, really bad and Ruby wasn't there for her, despite being in the room next to her? The crimson-haired girl could never forgive herself. Her worries intensified, and she (as hot-headed as she was) immediately came to a conclusion what to do:

'I have to break down the door to make sure Weiss is okay, even if it kills me.'

* * *

Weiss just came down from her climax when she almost thought to hear muffled noises through the door. But that was impossible since Ruby still had to be at the training grounds. Maybe her senses were tricking her. After all, her vision was still blurry and she had a ringing in her ears. That had been, without a single doubt, the most intense orgasm she had ever had.

The thought that anyone could've heard her scream didn't come to Weiss' mind. She didn't even know anymore if she really had screamed Ruby's name out loud or if she had done it just in her mind. In her current, exhausted state she didn't even care. She was just glad she got rid of the problem, at least for the moment.

For now, it was best to clean up, get dressed and don't give any hint to anybody that something odd had happened in here. But the moment Weiss stepped out of the shower she heard a loud THUD at the door.

'What the hell...', she thought. But before she could yell something, the door broke out of its lock and hinges and crashed onto the bathroom floor, with Ruby on top, missing Weiss by just a few inches.

After this rather rough landing, Ruby needed a moment to come back to her senses but immediately jumped up remembering why she had broken down the door in the first place.

"Weiss!", she yelled, "Are you okay? You screamed my name and I thought something really bad had happ..."

She stopped mid-sentence and stared at her terrified teammate. Too shocked to cover herself, Weiss just stood there, frozen, still totally naked, her not even fully flaccid penis clearly visible to the younger girl. And since the heiress looked Ruby in the eye, Ruby, however, didn't return the gaze, the white-haired girl knew what she was looking at. She felt her heart stop.

Suddenly, Ruby snapped out of her trance.

"Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh!!!", she stammered, "I was just... I-I thought, you... I'm sorry!"

With these words, she covered her eyes, turned around, and left the bathroom in a flurry of rose petals.

Weiss still had no idea how to handle the situation. Ruby saw her, she saw everything. She saw her secret. Nobody ever saw it... well, except her parents, the doctors and scientists who gave it to her, and probably her first nanny... but Weiss couldn't care less about those people. They were nothing like Ruby to her. And now the most important person in her life had seen her disgusting secret.

She couldn't let it end like this! Weiss had to find a way to explain everything to her friend, something she had never done to anyone before. She needed to put things right again, to convince Ruby that she was no kind of freak or whatever, that this part of her body was forced on her... just to make sure nothing had to change about their friendship... about _them_.

If she was about to lose Ruby, everything was over. She didn't know exactly why, but somehow she was sure that this was the case. She needed to get that topic out of the way and fast, so she wrapped herself in a towel, totally forgetting about her nightgown on the counter, and left the bathroom as well.

* * *

Ruby was sitting on Weiss' bed and had her face buried in her hands. The heiress couldn't see if she was terrified, or disgusted, or whatever emotion was appropriate for a situation like this one.

"R-Ruby...", Weiss asked cautiously, "I-I think we need to talk."

The sound of her teammate's voice made Ruby jump.

"Oh... it's... it's fine...", she said, facing her teammate carefully to make sure her body was completely covered this time, "I was just... surprised... to see... _that_... I guess..."

After looking at her partner, Weiss was puzzled: there was no sign of disgust, or horror, just a faint blush and a small, yet reassuring smile. Why?

"Well... nevertheless, I still think I owe you an explanation... about... what you saw...", Weiss sighed, still utterly nervous.

"I... umm... have to admit, I'm kind of curious.", Ruby admitted as her white-haired friend sat down next to her, ordering her thoughts.

"Since we're best friends for almost a year and you never hinted...", the crimson-haired girl mumbled, "...y'know... _that_." The heiress darted a glare at Ruby, who immediately shut up. Of course, this was something you couldn't just weave into a normal conversation. Maybe it was wiser to just listen to the explanation at this point.

Weiss took a deep breath and started to tell her story: "I'll try to keep this as brief as possible. You know that the Atlesian society is really patriarchic. So is the military, and also the companies. And after my parents got my older sister, my father knew that this wouldn't settle the case. He probably didn't want a second child, but he needed a male heir. So he had no choice but to, well, try one more time. Unfortunately for him, I turned out to be a girl as well. Some would say, life's a bitch. But my father had enough. If he wouldn't get a son naturally, he would get one in another way..."

Ruby raised her eyebrows. She wasn't sure what Weiss' point was but she could imagine, at least a little. She knew Weiss' father was anything but a nice person, yet she didn't know that he was that ruthless. But what she heard next left Ruby totally speechless.

Weiss continued: "So he used some kind of experimental Dust to try and alter my gender. But things didn't turn out as planned. That stuff might've given me that... well... that thing... but the rest of me wasn't affected at all. Ultimately, my father gave up on his stupid plan and let me live my life the way I wanted. He and my mother got a male child, my brother Whitley, a few years later, so he didn't show any interest in me again and I think that may not be a bad thing. But still... the scar on my face isn't the worst blemish I have to bear." She took a deep breath to calm her nerves.

"And that sums it up. Now you know everything.", she finished.

Ruby was stunned. That was the craziest, most disturbing, and most importantly the saddest story she had ever heard. But still, something was unclear to her.

With as much caution and empathy she could muster, she asked: "So... you're just... physically speaking... partly a guy?"

"No! I'm not!", Weiss snapped, "Don't you ever listen, you dunce?! I was born a girl and I still have my...", she blushed, but continued, "...my female parts too and... a feminine body... and... and all that..." Tears started to well up in the white-haired girl's eyes and Ruby immediately felt bad for asking such a stupid question.

"I'm no guy...", Weiss sobbed and added defeated, "I'm a monster."

From all the things Ruby never wanted to do, _Make Weiss cry_ was ranked pretty high on the list, if not first place actually. She moved closer to her friend and pulled her into a gentle, single-armed hug, trying to comfort her.

"No, you are not.", she reassured her friend, "You're way too nice to be a monster." However, Weiss just wriggled herself out of the embrace, still crying.

"What are you talking about?", she asked with a mixture of sadness and rage in her voice, "There is no way _I_ could be considered nice! And even if I was, with this... thing I have... I'm still a miscreation! Some freak of nature, a failed experiment, something that should have never come into existence in the first place!"

Now Ruby was really concerned about her partner. She had no idea anything (even something like this) could get that deep under the skin of the proud, rational and usually calm Weiss Schnee. Ruby was worried her teammate was dragging herself down into a pit of depression so deep no one, not even herself, could get her out ever again.

"Weiss...", the crimson-haired girl whimpered nervously.

But Weiss cut her off harshly, turned away and continued her emotional self-mutilation: "You know what... my stupid song is right about me... You've probably heard it... I really am the loneliest of all, and I'll ever be. There's no way anyone could love... some _thing_ like me. Ever!"

There was a long silence, only interrupted by the angry sobs that came from Weiss from time to time. Ruby knew she had to say something to convince her partner that she was wrong about herself. And deep down in her heart, Ruby knew exactly what she had to say... what she wanted to say for so long... She was afraid... fearful... but this now was more important! She took a deep breath.

 

"I could..."

 

Weiss' eyes widened in shock as she heard these tender words. Had Ruby just... confessed her love to her?! That couldn't be true! She turned to her team leader to say something...

...only to find her own face barely an inch away from her partner. Weiss wasn't sure if Ruby had moved closer to her without her noticing or if they were sitting this close the entire time, but at the moment all she could do was to gaze into these silver eyes, which were gazing back into her own blue ones the same caring way they always had done... for a year now... Time seemed to freeze and Weiss had no idea what to say anymore... or what to do...

Ruby, however, did.

Weiss' entire world was flipped upside down as Ruby closed her eyes, tilted her head slightly, and moved _that_ inch forward, only for their lips to meet. As gentle and sensitive as humanly possible the crimson-haired girl kissed her partner. The crimsonette had no idea if Weiss reciprocated her feelings but Ruby knew she had to try. She would've always regretted it if she would not have made _that_ move. And for some weird, totally incomprehensible reason it seemed like the perfect time to do so... even under imperfect circumstances.

Weiss still didn't know how to react. One side of her just wanted to enjoy the moment, believing that this was exactly what she had always wanted. Not someone to love her, but _Ruby_ to love her. Maybe that was the moment for everything to get better, for her to finally accept herself... and for her frozen heart to melt.

But there was still another side of her. A side unlike the first one. A side full of fear and withdrawnness. A side in charge for almost her entire life, therefore impossible to ignore, berating her for letting something like this happen.

A side telling her that all her efforts would be for nothing; because it knew it would come down to this since, well, Weiss was as she was. The white-haired girl knew she had barely changed enough to fall in love with another human being and never could be enough of a human being herself to maintain any kind of relationship...

And even if she tried with all her might to evolve into something emotional enough to do so... there still was some part of her body that wouldn't allow her to be happy. A part of her that didn't belong to her but was there anyway... Something that would eventually ruin everything because she didn't have it under control. Something malformed, something disgusting... something deeming her unworthy to experience a normal love life.

So why destroy two lives by igniting a spark of hope, when ultimately everything that would be remaining was two piles of ashes, formerly two young, innocent and more or less cheerful souls (at least maybe one of them)?

Suddenly, Weiss was certain that everything was a mistake and _at least_ for Ruby's sake, she had to prevent it.

* * *

It demanded all of the white-haired girl's willpower to finally pull away from her partner. At first, the younger girl looked into Weiss' eyes hopefully, believing her actions had at least taken away a little bit of the heiress' pain and self-doubts. But as she read her partner's gaze she only found total devastation.

"Ru-by...", Weiss sobbed, her voice cracking, "...n-no..."

The white-haired girl stood up and rushed to the bathroom without looking back. She tossed her towel away in the process, grabbed her nightgown and put it on as fast as she could. She needed to get out of here... to be alone right now. Everything must've been some kind of agonizing dream. Weiss stepped out of the bathroom, caught a glimpse of her partner sitting on her bed and staring into space in the corner of her eye, and rushed out of the dorm room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow... that last part hurt to write. Really. And I mean... REALLY! These poor girls. I really hope everything will work out for them.
> 
> So... this is the first half of the first arc's conclusion. I hope you enjoyed... well... Oh, come on, who am I kidding, this was heart-breaking...
> 
> As always, please review and stay tuned to heal your now bleeding heart...
> 
> Maybe...


	10. I Told You I Could...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! A lot of dark stuff ahead, at least emotionally. To convince yourselves to read it anyway I'll assure you that everything will (probably?) work out in the end. But still, it hurt a lot to write the first part, almost as much as the end of the last chapter. So brace yourselves. That's all I'm saying.

Weiss was standing on the roof of their dormitory, leaning on some kind of railing and gazing into the clear, starlit sky. She tried to recall and reconsider what just had happened. The white-haired girl grit her teeth and tried to hold back her tears, almost succeeding and only allowing one single droplet to run down her cheek. She was full of self-hatred - comprehensible since she had pushed away the only girl that really cared for her... truly cared for her... but this time it was different...

"No wonder you're the loneliest of all...", Weiss whispered angrily to herself, "...when all you ever say or do is just a giant load of crap."

She knew she wasn't a nice and caring person in the first place but mostly because people were hating her for her last name, or trying to benefit from it, or wanting her to not be herself because of it, or... this other reason... But why did she have to be like this even if she was around someone who didn't care about that? Who didn't mind that? Who didn't even mind... _that_... Who just cared about _her_? She told herself again she did what she had to for both of hers and Ruby's sake but when she broke it down into the essentials she was just running away from any kind of emotion... like she always did... Like she had always done... Like she was taught to do...

'Maybe a heart can be turned to stone...', the heiress thought, reciting the lyrics of her now incredibly hated but still very descriptive song.

She glared down her nightgown. Needless to say, she couldn't see her abominated secret through the silky fabric, but she could feel it was there... and even if not, she _knew_ it was always there... would always be there.

"This is all your fault.", Weiss whispered downwards, struggling to suppress a sob, "Everything's your fault. _I_ am your fault... Ever since I became aware of you... became aware I was a monstrosity... I just wanted one thing: To get rid of you."

Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. After all, the organ was created by using experimental Dust, and no one had any idea how it was connected to Weiss' body. It was totally unclear in which way the nerves and ducts were linking it to the rest of the heiress and what damage could be caused if it was removed. Therefore, no surgeon wanted to perform that kind of operation, no matter what sums of money anyone would offer. So there was no way for the white-haired girl to get rid of it... at least no professional way...

'To get rid of you...'

These words echoed in Weiss' mind for a long time while she was standing on this rooftop, and with a fierce determination she finally... and desperately added: "And maybe it's about time..."

She tried to reach into her pocket, only to realize that she wore her nightgown. Her Scroll was in the pockets of her regular clothes. Without her Scroll, she couldn't call her rocket-propelled locker that every student at Beacon Academy had. And without her locker she couldn't reach for what she needed right now:

Myrtenaster.

Weiss often played with the thought to just end her situation that way but hesitated, well knowing that she probably would pass out from the pain (considering how sensitive the hated organ was) and ultimately die from blood loss. A pathetic death to the always immaculate heiress of the Schnee Dust Company - the media would probably go wild about it...

But today's events were the final straw for her and she didn't care about the consequences anymore.

That disgusting malformation and everything it had caused (first and foremost her awful personality) had ruined the most important relationship she ever had, and most certainly ever would have. And if it was to blame to make Ruby feel bad, to ruin their friendship, their _relationship_... to make the most important thing the heiress ever wanted impossible, it had to be undone... no matter what!

'Ruby!', the white-haired girl suddenly thought. Her team leader came back to her mind and Weiss suddenly felt a lot sadder and angrier with herself than she was when she had come up here. She was standing here for at least an hour (since she hadn't had her Scroll at hand she didn't know, but to her it felt like an eternity), sinking into self-pity and barely sparing any thought about the formerly quirky girl, whose feelings and hopes she had utterly crushed as she left her alone in an empty, lonely dorm room.

The heiress realized that she didn't want to end her condition (and probably die in the process) before she could apologize to her beloved team leader. And because she had to go to their room anyway to get her Scroll because didn't want to run across the campus to the locker rooms in her nightgown, she would do this right away to silence her conscience.

Weiss took a deep breath and gazed at the starlit sky one last time. She had made up her mind: She would go back to team RWBY's dorm room, apologize to Ruby, grab her Scroll, get out of there, and finally put an end to the thing that had ruined her entire life. If the crimson-haired girl wasn't there anymore, she would just leave a letter or something, a little selfish, but still a necessity - she couldn't wait any longer or she would probably change her mind again. And that mustn't happen!

But she had to do it in secret. If anyone caught her, they probably would try to stop her, to disarm her. They probably would put her in some kind of mental hospital, too, where she never had a chance to put an end to this anymore. And after the doctors there found out that her depressions were incurable, she would have to vegetate in a padded cell for the rest of her life (a little over-dramatic, but still a possibility, and her mind had gone berserk a long time ago). That mustn't happen too. It had to be done in secret!

Maybe she would make it to the medical ward afterwards if she didn't pass out, and maybe the staff could do something to save her life, and... and if not, she... she didn't really care. Maybe she didn't want them to, either. Maybe, after tonight, it was simply too late to put the pieces of her shattered life back together.

* * *

The trip back to her dorm room seemed to take an eternity to Weiss. What if Ruby wasn't there? What if Ruby was looking for her right now? What if Ruby found her while she tried to mutilate herself after she wrote that disturbing letter? Thousands of questions made Weiss' mind spin and every time they were centered around this one girl. But whatever the circumstances were, the heiress knew what she had to do tonight... one way or the other...

Carefully, Weiss opened the door to their room and stepped inside, not knowing what would await her. But what she saw stung her heart deeply.

The desk light was still on... the towel she had thrown off before she got her nightgown and left was still lying in the same place she had tossed it... and on her bed sat a familiar figure, which seemed not to have moved a single inch after the heiress had run away. Ruby just sat there motionless, hanging her head and gazing into space. She probably had noticed that somebody had entered the room, still, she continued to stare at the ground... maybe because she knew who the intruder was.

Weiss didn't know what to do now. She had it all plotted out in her head on her way back: What to say to Ruby if she was still in the dorm room, what to write in her (probably goodbye-) letter if she was gone... but seeing her team leader, her partner, her... love... in this state had erased her mind completely. The white-haired girl hesitated for a moment, almost taking a step back, but she _knew_ she couldn't forgive herself if she left Ruby again without saying anything. So she approached the crimson-haired girl carefully and sat beside her on the bottom bunk.

Then, there was an awkward silence. Weiss tried to remember what she wanted to say, what she had come up with for at least half an hour... and Ruby was just showing no reaction at all. With every passing minute, the mood was getting more and more uncomfortable and Weiss decided she just _had_ to say something. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth. But then...

"Weiss... I'm sorry... I'm really sorry... from the bottom of my heart...", Ruby said quietly, "I didn't mean to put you into this situation. I just... I just wanted to comfort you because you were... suffering (there was an audible sob)... and maybe I saw an opportunity to... to show you how I really felt... _feel_... about you."

Weiss was confused. Wasn't she the one supposed to apologize? After all, she had shot her partner down. She was the one to blame... She wanted to say something but Ruby continued. And what she said was unbelievable to the heiress.

"Ever since we met at the cliffside... on our first day... there was something about you I just couldn't understand but it immediately cast some kind of spell over me.", the crimson-haired girl explained, "At first I thought I just wanted to make my initial mistake up to you... and wanted to be your friend since I hadn't known anybody at Beacon... well, besides my sister. But I soon realized that this wasn't it... at all... I really can't explain it to myself either, but I felt really weird in your presence... in a good way. In an... inexplicable way...

You were so confident, so prideful, so mature... and a lot more other things I really admired... still admire... and beautiful, of course. I didn't understand myself either at this time... but... I craved your appreciation... so much that I did some really stupid stuff, at the initiation for example, with the Death Stalker... At first, I didn't realize why it was so important to me for you to like me, but I... I always had a suspicion... a really stupid suspicion...

It hadn't taken me very long to figure out why I was like this... felt like this... _feel_ like this... I knew I... I had a crush on you, for so many reasons... but I just thought it was because I was admiring how awesome you are and I thought it would probably go away and I was just love-stricken, and just a stupid child, like you're telling me so often... I thought that it'll go away for _so_ long...

But it didn't. I'm sure it will never go away completely. I realized that I don't have a crush on you... I... I really fell in love with you... And that... that was almost a year ago..."

The white-haired girl was taken aback. Ruby was feeling that way for almost a year now?! And Weiss had been so utterly rejecting, sometimes hostile, the entire time? Yet, the younger girl still had these feelings towards her, even cherished them? Holding on to them like they were her lifeline? The heiress' mind was failing to process all of this.

But Ruby just continued: "And after seeing your... _secret_... I admit I was surprised, maybe even shocked... at first..." Ruby emphasized these last two words, leaving Weiss even more confused.

The crimson-haired girl went on: "But then I realized that my feelings for you hadn't changed a bit... wouldn't change a bit. Even if you are... different... I don't care... my heart... doesn't care... and that's why I kissed you... why I tried to... to... well... nevermind..."

At this point, Weiss' eyes had started to tear up again, hearing all the sweet things her partner said to her, and every word made her heart fall apart little by little. Now she felt even worse being so rejecting earlier... being so rejecting all the time... She had no idea how deep Ruby's feelings for her had been all these months... the entire year...

"But it's okay.", Ruby sighed, "Now that I have gotten that out of my system, I can finally begin to be myself again. Maybe I failed... but I didn't back down. I've done... all I could..."

At this time everything in Weiss' head screamed at herself to make Ruby stop saying another single word. She couldn't hear any more of this or the pain in her chest would kill her. She wanted to slap her partner, she wanted to run away again, hell, if there was no other option she would jump out of the window. Anything!!! ...just to put an end to this.

...to no avail. Weiss couldn't move nor speak as Ruby finished her somewhat comforting, but still somewhat unbelievably excruciating speech: "Now that I have certainty about how you feel about me, I can try to do other things that may make me happy... or that will help me to move along... and even if my biggest wish won't come true..."

Suddenly, Ruby turned to Weiss, facing her and staring into her ocean-blue eyes with her silver ones. And, with a small smile on her face, she completed: "...at least I can live on with my head held high..."

Weiss couldn't turn her gaze away. Seeing the adorable face of her partner, her friend, her love... bearing a fake, suffering smile while a single tear started to roll down her cheek, was too much for her to handle. Her mind started to race. She knew how she felt about Ruby, how she had always felt about her beloved team leader. She couldn't deny it anymore, even if she still wanted to protect herself and the crimson-haired girl from what she ultimately was. She only knew that she never wanted to see Ruby in this state ever again, especially with herself to blame. And that was all that mattered.

She was in love with Ruby Rose and this wonderful girl loved her back, even though said girl knew it was a biological monstrosity she was in love with. Weiss felt the solid ice walls around her heart, built up over the past eighteen years, melting down in an instant, and she completely lost it, starting to cry uncontrollably, only to sob the only four words appropriate for Ruby's last remark:

 

"Sh-shut up, you dolt!"

 

The words had barely left her mouth as Weiss tackled Ruby down onto the bed they were sitting upon and pressed her lips against her partner's passionately, hugging her tightly, fearful to ever let her go again. She was still crying but she didn't care. She couldn't care less... Years of bottled-up emotions were finally being released and suddenly it seemed to Weiss that, for the first time in her life, the gruesome shadow in her mind that tried to drag her down into darkness couldn't reach her as long as her crimson-haired protector was here.

Suddenly, Weiss felt two slender, yet strong arms wrap themselves around her lower back and neck, pulling her closer, deepening the kiss, comforting her in a way she could never have imagined. The heiress slowly stopped crying and shivering and relaxed into the embrace. She enjoyed the warmth and gentleness of Ruby's body, the tender strokes of her partner's hand through her long, white hair and the softness and taste of the younger girl's lips. 'This moment has to last forever...', Weiss thought, finally... happy.

The white-haired girl pressed closer, not wanting to lose the contact between them, feeling Ruby's very heartbeat pounding through her body. She was fueled by a passion she had never felt before. Every time they parted it was just to take a breath before their lips crashed together once more. Soon the dorm room was filled with heavy but soft pants, as they continued to kiss each other. Hands ran through hair, lips were demanding contact with each other, almost desperately searching for some kind of warmth. They weren't Ruby and Weiss anymore... They were Ruby _and_ Weiss now. They weren't teammates anymore... or friends... They were finally lovers... and it felt as right as can be. It felt... complete.

Weiss' mind was spinning, her very senses overcome by the feeling of her partner so close to her... closer than she could've ever imagined. This closeness was becoming more and more addicting until her mind wasn't capable of thinking anything besides Ruby.

Nothing else existed, just Ruby...

After a long time of kissing and caressing each other, they eventually calmed down, snuggling up to each other, lying side by side and gazing into each other's eyes once more. Weiss' mind finally had processed everything that had happened over the past few minutes, although it seemed like a lifetime to her - maybe because it was the only time in her life that was mattering to her so far. Everything outside of their embrace was forgotten and irrelevant at the moment. Ruby Rose, the most important person in her life... was in love with her.

A small, gentle smile spread across the crimson-haired girl's face, and as if she could read Weiss' mind, she softly said: "I told you I could... you just had to let me..."

The heiress returned the smile, gave her love a soft kiss on the lips and responded, still with a little sob: "What took us so long to finally find to each other?"

Ruby's smile turned into a shy grin as she answered: "Well... I guess all we needed was a little... total emotional meltdown from both of us."

Weiss looked at her, unable to suppress her own chuckle, her eyes filled with relief and happiness. The tears of sadness had long since turned into tears of joy as she pulled her partner closer and buried her face in Ruby's neck.

"I guess that sums it up...", Weiss whispered, "But... thank Dust it has happened."

Suddenly, the white-haired girl realized something. The mismatching part of her body showed no reaction at all. All it did was staying in place and for the last few minutes, Weiss even had forgotten that it was there in the first place. But it wasn't because she wasn't attracted to Ruby because she truly was. Well... maybe it was because her emotions were running wild for the last few hours. Maybe getting some release in the shower (before all of the trouble had started) had helped her... but maybe, only maybe, even THAT part of her body was willing not to ruin this special moment.

Weiss couldn't quite concentrate on her thoughts because a gentle hand started to caress the back of her head again. She looked up from the crook of Ruby's neck, only to find a pair of overwhelmingly heartwarming, silver eyes gaze down on her gently, giving her a look that made the heiress blush furiously, although she still tried to fight it... a bit...

The strong, yet gentle arms of her partner pulled her even closer.

"It's pretty late.", Ruby whispered, "I guess, we should get some sleep. I'm sure the day was exhausting for both of us."

"Yes.", Weiss admitted sheepishly, "But I wouldn't change it for the world."

"Me neither.", Ruby responded happily and kissed her love one more time, "Umm... See you tomorrow?"

"You bet.", Weiss whispered, smiling happily. With this she snuggled up as close to the younger girl as she could, releasing her only for a brief moment so she could turn off the desk light next to the bed before they continued with the embrace. It was obvious to both girls that they would share the bed for tonight.

* * *

"Hey... Weiss...", Ruby whispered, barely awake by now, "I... love you... always have..."

The heiress started to blush again but then kissed her partner on the cheek and responded: "I love you too, Ruby. I just... couldn't show it any sooner."

And before Weiss fell asleep she suddenly was happy that Ruby had discovered her secret. Who knew that all they had needed was, as the crimson-haired girl had put it, an _emotional meltdown_ to finally find to one another. Weiss couldn't help but smile and buried her face into her lover's neck again before she drifted off into the field of dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now they're finally together. You probably caught the references to the title of my story in one or two of Ruby's quotes, as well as the one in the last chapter's title. This stuff was (more or less) finished before I even decided to publish it anywhere. It just took some time to refine it and to accommodate it to the rest of the story.
> 
> Please tell me what you think about this chapter, I probably have revised it more than anything I wrote for university (including my master thesis). This means two things: First, I was a terrible student, and second, I really wanted to make this one of the best things I've ever written.
> 
> But just because this is one of the peaks of this story, we are far from done. How will this relationship turn out for both of them? Weiss still has her secret to deal with, and since it seems to be very demanding, there are a lot of problems to sort out. And there also is this mission for her and Ruby coming up, so what will happen then? Even I don't know completely yet, but as soon as I figure it out, I'll let you know as soon as possible.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Leave a review and as always: Stay tuned for the next chapter!


	11. Leave!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, First new chapter since I moved this story to Ao3. Let's see how Ruby's and Weiss' new relationship will work out.

The next day was dawning too fast for Weiss to have a peaceful, relaxing sleep. She felt exhausted and light-headed and was unable to sort her thoughts, which was pretty unusual, considering the fact that she was an early riser and also a rational, disciplined student. But then, in an instant, she was wide awake; because she felt a soft body next to her, its breathing calm and regular. Abruptly, yesterday's events came back to her mind.

"R-Ruby, is that you?", Weiss asked carefully, a crack in her voice, "...o-or was it all just a crazy, too-good-to-be-true kind of dream?"

The figure next to her began to move and merely a second later there was a sweet, sleepy whisper from a familiar voice that made the white-haired girl's heart jump: "Dust, I hope not. Otherwise, we'd have to go through this exhausting emotional roller coaster crap again before we get to the good part..."

Weiss shifted a little bit to face her bedmate, immediately losing herself in those overwhelmingly gentle looking, silver eyes again.

"Good morning.", Ruby whispered and leaned in for a soft kiss, and Weiss was more than willing to comply. This strange, warm feeling she had felt yesterday and was already addicted to returned, as the white-haired girl deepened the kiss and pulled her partner closer. She wouldn't mind waking up like this for the rest of her life.

Eventually, they both needed to breathe and pulled away, smiling happily.

"I love you, Ruby.", Weiss said gently and leaned her forehead against the younger girl's.

"I love you too, Weiss.", Ruby responded, but then she blushed in a shade of pink and looked away. First, the white-haired girl couldn't understand this reaction and was afraid that she had said or done something wrong, but her partner soon solved the mystery.

"Umm... By the way... you're... kind of... poking me...", Ruby stammered sheepishly. Weiss was still confused until the younger girl's blush turned as red as the tips of her hair and she continued: "...with your..."

Weiss' eyes widened in shock. How could she _not_ notice that? Startled, she wanted to back out of the bed, but Ruby suddenly pulled her closer, and with a small giggle she began to caress and comfort her.

"It's okay...", she said calmly, "I know you don't do that on purpose."

The heiress was still kind of flustered and tried to stammer an apology: "S-sorry... i-it's... just a... a morning condition... y'know... like... boys have it..." At that, Ruby loosened her embrace a little, still blushing but with a wide grin on her face.

"Yeah... probably... but it didn't happen until I kissed you.", she giggled.

Weiss' face froze. She had to admit her partner was right but she was far from ready for this kind of physical relationship yet. She didn't even know if she wanted to do that kind of stuff with Ruby anyway... well, with that mismatched organ. And they just were together for less than a day! Heck, Weiss didn't even know what they were at the moment: were they already girlfriends, or was it too early to call them that? Or were they just seeing where this relationship would take them for the time being? The white-haired girl even started to wonder what _gender_ she'd have in all this as her mind spun around that many absurd questions.

But one thing she knew for sure: To avoid any more embarrassing moments this morning she had to get out of this bed (and unfortunately out of Ruby's embrace in addition) and into the bathroom to take care of her problem immediately. Therefore, Weiss wriggled herself out of her partner's arms and got up.

"Sorry... but I... I need... umm... stuff to do to... calm _that_ down.", she stammered, blushing furiously and trying to hide her erection.

"Won't it just go down on its own after a while?", Ruby asked, "I... umm... don't mind."

"It's... not that easy...", Weiss sighed, "So... umm... if you excuse me."

She made her way to the bathroom, only to realize that the door was broken down. There was no way she could do what she had to with Ruby in the same room. She probably wasn't even able to do this kind of stuff knowing Ruby was just a few feet away at the moment, even if the bathroom door would be intact.

"Umm... Ruby... I really hate to ask you this, but... could you please leave the room?", she asked carefully. Yet, the response of her partner threw her off track.

"Oh... okay.", Ruby complied, "I understand that this... _penis_ -stuff is still bothering you too much to... umm... let me know about it completely. But I'll let you be. Just... don't worry about it and don't feel down. I love you no matter what." She raised from the heiress' bunk and took some clothes from the closet. Weiss was still frozen at the bathroom's door frame, confused, pushing her growing erection down with both hands.

"I will shower at the gym then. See you in class...", Ruby said incredibly understanding and added with a little smile, "...my little _Snowflake_."

Weiss blushed at the pet name that made her cock twitch but tried to smile anyway. A genuine smile.

"O-okay... See you in class.", the heiress stammered.

Ruby then took off to the gym, but just before she let the dorm room door fall shut, she poked her head through it one last time and said grinning: "I still think that _that_ is kind of flattering."

Weiss blushed even more as she already was at the moment, if this was possible, and wanted to shout "That's not helping, you dolt!" before the door fell completely shut. But then her erection twitched again considering Ruby's last remark.

'Well... maybe it helped at least a bit... ', she thought, 'And maybe it will help shorten this annoying procedure... like last time... No! Not again! Ruby's better than this.'

She stepped into the shower and tried to think about other things than the crimson-haired girl, but as soon as the hot water ran down her body and she touched her erection, her mind was flooded with pictures of her adorable team leader.

'Bloody hell!'

* * *

After Weiss got her _problem_ solved, she packed up her things and made her way to their first class. The moment she got to Professor Port's lecture hall she immediately spotted her partner... no... her love in front of it, obviously waiting for her.

"Hey, Ruby.", she greeted the crimsonette, in a much better mood than a few minutes ago.

"Hey, Weiss.", Ruby chirped, "I already missed you." She attempted to embrace the heiress and in her eyes, the white-haired girl saw her desire to kiss her. So she pushed Ruby away, as gently as possible but still determined.

"N-no, Ruby. Stop it.", she said, probably a bit too harsh.

"W-what?", Ruby stopped her attempt at exchanging affections but still looked like a kicked puppy. Weiss immediately felt bad about it.

"Sorry...", the heiress whispered promptly. "I... I just don't want anyone to know yet. It's not that I am ashamed of you or something...", she added hastily and nervously, "I... I'm just not that comfortable with me in this whole relationship-thing at the moment. I-It's my fault, not yours. I hope you understand. I wish I had the courage to show how proud I am that we're together... like you do. And I really want to, too, but it's just that I..."

A prominent giggle of Ruby shut her up.

"I... What's so funny?", Weiss asked confused.

"It's like our roles are reversed now.", Ruby chuckled, but trying to maintain her composure, "I'm the one totally confident about this stuff and you're so nervous you're starting to ramble." Then she added, just quiet enough for only them to hear: "You're the _Ruby_ in our relationship." Then she started to giggle again.

"You're such a dolt.", Weiss sighed but added more affectionate, "But you're my dolt. And I'd never want any other dolt."

"Is _dolt_ now not an insult anymore but my new pet name?", Ruby asked with a weird mixture of amusement and disappointment in her voice.

"One of them...", Weiss explained, "But I promise I'll come up with something better soon."

"That's good enough for me.", Ruby replied and gave her partner a warm smile which put a swarm of butterflies through the heiress' stomach.

The bell suddenly reminded them of the class they had to attend. And for the first time in her life, Weiss hated punctuality, studying and her own compulsion. Still, her reason won... but now only barely. The heiress smiled at that thought.

* * *

Weiss tried to follow their Grimm studies class, as usual, listening to Port's story vigilantly, taking notes about some kind of Grimm anatomy and, regarding this, where to strike best. On her right, for some odd reason, Ruby scratched down some weird _runes_ on her notepad, impossible to read for the heiress. And the crimsonette used her RIGHT hand to do so.

"Ruby... what are you doing? You should follow the lecture.", she quietly told her partner, careful not to fall into her usual scolding tone this time.

"I am...", Ruby whispered back, "But I'm trying to write properly with my right hand."

"Why on Remnant are you trying that in the middle of a lecture?", Weiss asked. She knew Ruby was quite ambidextrous (after all, swinging her two-handed scythe required that), but writing was something she usually did with her left. For obvious reasons.

"Because of this...", Ruby whispered. She looked around, careful that no one else could see what was going on under their desk, and intertwined the fingers of her left hand with the ones of the heiress' unused right one.

A warm sensation spread through Weiss' body. She was glad a certain part of her body didn't respond in any way, but this was probably due to the fact that she already gave this annoying thing some attention earlier this morning.

"Are you okay with... at least this?", Ruby asked cautiously.

"More than okay...", Weiss whispered back, a small smile spreading across her face, "But you still shouldn't practice writing with your off hand when you're supposed to take notes."

"Okay... sorry.", Ruby apologized and tried to pull her hand back. But then she felt the grip on it tighten as the heiress pulled it back, rubbing her thumb over the back of it affectionately.

"You should have thought of that before you put your head in the lion's mouth.", Weiss said with a mischievous grin, then added teasingly, "Oh... and don't even think about copying my notes afterwards."

'I have no idea whether to feel appreciated or intimidated by this.', Ruby thought smiling but then noticed Professor Port rambling on about the complex anatomy of Alpha Beowolves. 'Damn... better write that down.', she told herself inwardly, only to realize that it was _really_ difficult to keep up taking notes with her right hand.

'Okay, I'm screwed for today... But I don't regret a single thing...', Ruby grinned as she felt Weiss' thumb gently and slowly caressing the back of her hand.

* * *

The young couple got through the next two lectures for today, secretly holding hands whenever there was an opportunity to do so. Maybe the white-haired girl wasn't too fond of showing her affection openly but Ruby knew that her partner at least wanted to have these inconspicuous romantic moments as much as possible - and it meant the world to the crimsonette. They somehow made it through the day without drawing any kind of attention to them, and after a horrid amount of almost intolerable hours they finally had some time for themselves... and hopefully for their recently found relationship.

"Finally we can retreat to the dorm room for the rest of today.", Ruby chirped as they strode through Beacon's corridors, "And finally we can be... _our_ selves again." She turned to her partner and perked her eyebrows up.

"As tempting as this sounds...", Weiss commenced, "We still have work to do. There're these schematics for Professor Port and I still have to prepare the notes for Blake and Yang. And... and I know I said otherwise... for you, too, since you probably couldn't write a single readable sentence today." The fingertips of her left hand danced over the back of her right, and she added sheepishly: "Not that I mind it that much, though..."

"You're always too fussy about this stuff...", Ruby whined, "Port's schematics aren't due to Friday and we can just copy the essentials from our textbooks." Then she looked around to check if nobody was around and continued quietly, but excessively pouting and overly dramatic: "And I _demand_ my Weiss-time."

"You'll get your _Weiss-time_ soon enough.", Weiss assured her, "But I won't let the... (she blushed slightly) umm... recent developments regarding our relationship... interfere with my work ethics. Although I hate myself for this a little..."

Ruby chuckled a bit at the last remark. Despite being her... girlfriend, hopefully... Weiss was still Weiss, and Ruby didn't want her any other way. She was still this disciplined, prideful, immaculate student, all of them qualities Ruby admired. But she still tried to be more sensitive and seemed to take this relationship pretty seriously, a quality the crimsonette admired even more. So Ruby on her side tried not to be so pushy anymore. After all, she had been in this relationship looong before they actually got together, and Ruby knew that Weiss would probably need some time to adjust to this new state of affairs.

"Okay. I'm fine with anything you suggest.", the crimson-haired girl gave in, "But don't expect I won't try to _change your mind_." She gave her partner a mischievous grin, just as Weiss did back at Port's lecture.

"Not gonna happen!", Weiss exclaimed, maybe a little too forceful to seem credible, "Anyway, let's just finish this stuff as quickly as possible, so we can... umm... well... you know... dolt!" With these words, and now blushing furiously, she strode off and left Ruby behind.

"As you wish, my little Snowflake.", the crimsonette said with a now smug grin as she tried to keep up with her partner's suddenly unnecessary fast walking speed.

* * *

"Aaand... done!", Ruby yelled satisfied as she tossed her pen across the desk she and Weiss were sitting at in their dorm room, "See? Was a lot easier as you thought, right?"

"I have never ever seen you working this hard and focused on an assignment.", Weiss noted, then she added a little seductively, "This most certainly has to mean you have some kind of... _ulterior_ _motives_."

"You can't prove that...", Ruby whispered as she drew closer to the white-haired girl next to her.

"You underestimate my powers...", Weiss purred and closed the remaining gap between their faces.

The electric, bewitching, _addicting_ feeling wasn't weakened one bit since their lips had parted the last time this morning. Ruby's touch felt so incredibly soft, tasted so incredibly sweet, was so incredibly filled with affection that Weiss was about to lose her mind by just this simple kiss. She still could hardly believe her luck to finally have to call this incredible girl hers...

Suddenly, the heiress felt a tongue brush against her lips, hesitantly at first, but more demanding the longer the kiss lasted. Weiss was reserved to part them at first but soon found herself unable to resist Ruby's attempts. Almost instantly, she felt a foreign tongue enter her mouth, gently exploring the newfound space she had offered it. Weiss' own tongue suddenly met Ruby's and the white-haired girl gently pushed against it, carefully in the beginning but getting more and more comfortable by the second.

Ruby was in pure bliss. The moment she felt Weiss' tongue against her own, everything else in her mind went blank. The crimsonette rested one of her hands on the heiress' waist and brought the other one to the back of her neck, trying to pull her closer. It felt heavenly to have Weiss' lips on her own, caressing, vibrating... vibrating?

Weiss couldn't help but let out a little moan into Ruby's mouth. She blushed furiously as she felt Ruby's lips curl up into a small smile but before the embarrassment could kill her, her crimson-haired lover pulled her even closer and pushed her tongue deeper into her lover's mouth. This reassured Weiss enough to finally participate fully in this more mature kiss.

What had started as a simple liplock soon turned into a fight for in which's mouth their tongues would be dancing around each other. What had been a simple wave of heat inside of the heiress' body soon turned into a wildfire. And what had been simply resting inside of her panties just a moment ago soon decided to participate in this as well.

'Oh no! You don't!', the heiress ordered inwardly.

Still, her mismatched organ absolutely wanted to disagree again. Weiss felt it strain her panties and although she tried to mentally brace her feet against it, she wasn't able to control it. As soon as Ruby would pull her into a closer embrace, which was inevitable due to their current situation, she would feel something really bothering... again.

Even if the crimsonette had told her she didn't mind, Weiss knew it was far too early to confront her partner with this. This thing would probably force her to think she had to do something she didn't want to... something their young relationship wouldn't survive at this moment... and maybe never... 'Why must this ruin _every_ tender moment we share?'

"Ruby... stop... please...", Weiss whispered, pulling away, a single string of saliva still connecting their lips.

"Why?", Ruby asked concerned and suddenly her silver eyes went wide, "I... I was too pushy again, am I right?"

"No... It was... amazing... but...", the heiress tried to choose her words correctly, "It's about... something different." Her hands went down to her crotch, trying to push down her growing erection.

"Ohhh...", Ruby realized, "Umm... okay... well... I already told you I don't mind that much, but if you still..."

"Leave!", Weiss demanded, suddenly full of self-loathing, and immediately felt awful for yelling at her partner.

"Oh... okay...", Ruby said deflated, "But believe me, it really doesn't bother me that..."

"Just! Leave!", Weiss pleaded, this time really desperate, "Please!"

"A-alright... s-sorry.", Ruby said hastily and exited the dorm room as fast as she could. The door fell shut with a loud, somehow depressing _thud_.

'Why?! Why are you making this so darn arduous?!', Weiss shot a glare down her crotch as she entered the bathroom... again...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And again, Weiss' demanding extra-appendage causes another bump in the road. Even though they are together now, there are a lot of things these two have to sort out.
> 
> Regarding the note-taking scene: I know, Ruby is seen to write properly with her right hand in the last episode of the fourth season, but even if someone is ambidextrous, I still think writing is something you normally do with your main hand. I also can do some stuff better with my left hand than my right, but writing or drawing with my left as neat as with my right... impossible, and I tried that a lot, for whatever reason...
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please leave a comment and stay tuned!


	12. There Has to Be a Solution

This time, Weiss awoke from a very peaceless slumber. Ruby apparently had climbed into her bunk above the heiress' this night. After all, she wasn't to blame since the white-haired girl went to sleep as soon as she had finished her abhorring deed and, reasonably, went to bed without giving her... girlfriend?... a chance to snuggle up to her.

'This sucks sooo much...', Weiss thought as she wrapped her arms around her rolled-up blanket, pretending it was Ruby. But the deep breath she took didn't smell like roses and childish strawberry-shampoo but like her very own vanilla-scented one... and Weiss suddenly hated it. After she had experienced waking up next to the girl she loved it was excruciating not to do so.

She tried to perk up her ears. There was a soft snoring sound coming from the bunk atop of her. Ruby _was_ there. Still, she didn't want to sleep in the same bed as Weiss... No... she was afraid to sleep in the same bed as the heiress. All because of the harsh words from yesterday.

Weiss suddenly felt like she was about to throw up.

'I messed this up so bad.', she thought, full of self-loathing, "I told her to leave... and she left... All because of..."

Her flaccid penis made a slight twitch as soon as Ruby entered the heiress' mind again.

'Because of you!', Weiss thought furiously, shooting a glare down her crotch, 'No! I won't let you ruin my relationship with _my_ Ruby! I've already come this far. There has to be a solution!'

She knew since last weekend that alcohol had helped her with it but there was no way she could be drinking all the time. First, she didn't want to end like that weird uncle of Ruby (he still seemed to manage his everyday life, though...), and second, it would be too noticeable when she was drunk every day. No... there had to be another way, a more professional way, a medical way, perhaps.

As quietly as possible, she made her way to the desk, extending her Scroll to tablet mode and called up the most efficient search engine.

'I know there has to be something to fix this problem.', she told herself, 'Let's check the online pharmacies first.'

As soon as Weiss entered _libido reduction_ there were a lot of results but everything didn't quite fit about what she was searching for. It probably was futile to find exactly was she wanted within the... well, legal terms of search. She didn't want something that might reduce her... _sex drive_... she was looking for something to _chemically castrate_ herself completely!

Weiss had played with this thought before but all of the stuff that was within her reach wasn't strong enough to work on her ridiculously high libido. Besides, all these medications were accompanied by a lot of undesirable side effects, so she never pursued her interests. But now she was determined to find something at least a little useful to help her with her relationship with Ruby.

'Nothing...', she grunted inwardly, 'No! There HAS to be something... Stupid medical restrictions... WAIT!'

At least some of the scientists that were involved in her... transformation... must've been still into employment for her father. And they were probably still involved in some questionable medical research. Maybe they had something in stock for her. The SDC had always been eager to expand its branches, first and foremost regarding medical compounds.

Weiss decided to at least write an e-mail... a hate-filled, threatening e-mail:

_'Dear medical research team,_

_I wanted to let you know that one of your human experiments has some difficulties to deal with the_ abhorrent thing YOU _forced upon her. If anybody is willing to answer to this message, I may spare some of your jobs by not telling father about uncooperative scientists. I hope that somebody involved in my project has the courage to contact me immediately and try to help me manage the problems that accompany it. Otherwise, I'm going to have to arrange more than discomforting steps regarding your careers. You better hurry! Best regards..._

_Schnee, Weiss; heiress SDC.'_

It was somehow relieving to hit the send button. Her father's scientists would be intimidated enough to comply to her every request. Hopefully, they would answer soon.

* * *

"Hey Weiss, whatcha doing?"

The heiress almost jumped out of her skin the moment she was addressed. She turned around and saw Ruby's tousled head of black and red hair sticking out from her bunk. The crimsonette yawned and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"Umm... just looking up something.", Weiss quickly said and slammed her Scroll shut.

"You're studying too much.", Ruby yawned again, "We've at least one and a half hours until classes start. You should get some more sleep."

"Yeah, sorry... I... I just woke up and couldn't fall asleep again.", Weiss lied, "So I thought I might as well do some stuff to prepare for today's lectures."

Ruby didn't comment on that but jumped down her bunk and stretched herself. She paid attention to every joint, which wasn't surprising after she had spent most of her latest evenings at the gym. Weiss watched her partner's every movement but didn't say another word. There suddenly was an awkward silence.

"Umm... Ruby...", the heiress started shyly, "A-about yesterday..."

"Oh, that's alright. Don't worry.", the crimson-haired girl cut her off with a smile, "I know you aren't comfortable with all this... _stuff_... yet... so it was probably right to tell me to leave, so I won't make things worse. And when I came back you were already asleep and I didn't want to wake you up... so... y'know..."

Again, Ruby gave Weiss a reassuring smile, but the heiress knew that she just said and did all of this to make her feel less bad. Ruby and their relationship didn't deserve this.

"No, listen... I was this nasty, bitchy, hateful Weiss again, a person I don't want to be anymore. At least not to you.", the white-haired girl explained, "So I'm sorry. I'm... really sorry. I hope you can forgive me and you still want to be my... girlfriend..." The heiress chose this last word carefully since she had no idea at what point their relationship was at the moment.

"Of course I want to, dummy.", Ruby said with a beaming smile, "I wanted you to be my girlfriend for so long. And I won't let a few bumps in the road change that. I'll always be there for you... So... kiss and make up?"

"Yes, please.", Weiss almost begged and as soon as she had spoken these words, Ruby made her way over and pulled her now _official girlfriend_ into a soft kiss. The heiress leaned in immediately and enjoyed the wonderful feeling of the crimson-haired girl's lips on hers once more. It wasn't as heated as the kiss from yesterday but still passionate, and, unfortunately, it still had some undesired side effects. As soon as Weiss noticed that a certain part of her body enjoyed this too much, she pulled away, much to her own and, of course, Ruby's dismay, before it would lead to yet another _problem_.

"Umm... Can I ask you for one last thing?", the heiress whispered.

"Anything...", Ruby whispered back, her caring smile ever-present.

"Do not do what you did last night ever again.", Weiss pleaded, "When you see me lying in my bed alone and you're not mad at me, please snuggle up to me immediately. At least until Blake and Yang return. I almost couldn't bear it when I woke up alone today." The heiress blushed a bit at her last comment, even tearing up a little, but still tried to maintain eye contact.

"And it is my solemn vow that until Yang and Blake are back you won't wake up alone anymore.", Ruby promised quite overdramatic, maybe a little jesting, but still absolutely sincere. And even Weiss giggled a little about her _girlfriend's_ childish antics, a look of relief on her face. How come that something that annoyed her so much over the past months was now one of her favorite things?

"Umm... about Yang and Blake...", Ruby suddenly looked kind of nervous, "I know you wanted to keep our relationship a secret until you're more comfortable with it, but... we have to tell at least them somewhere along the line."

"I know...", Weiss sighed, "But can we at least try to introduce it to them step by step... Y'know, your sister most certainly thinks pretty poorly of me since I didn't treat you very well until recently..."

"It's not _that_ bad. Don't worry. When I tell her how happy you make me I'm sure she will be happy for both of us.", Ruby reassured her partner, "But... just to be on the safe side... try to hide behind me when I tell her about us, okay?"

"Ruby, I won't hole up when you're telling your sister about us.", Weiss said, "I want to be by your side when it comes down to this... always... even if..."

"She will accept it, Weiss. I promise.", Ruby exclaimed, "Maybe Yang's a little overprotective, but as soon as she realizes you're really kind to me now, she'll be fine with it."

"And so it is my solemn vow that I'll always be kind to you from now on... well... unless you're a _complete_ dolt.", Weiss said jokingly and pulled Ruby into a tender embrace.

"And I promise I won't be a _complete_ dolt anymore...", Ruby responded and buried her face into the crook of her girlfriend's neck, "But I'll always be _your_ dolt."

Suddenly, both Ruby's and Weiss's alarm went off, their Scrolls signalizing they both had just about an hour left to prepare for their first class this day.

"Damnit! I knew there was something I forgot!", Weiss said and wriggled herself out of their embrace. "Umm... Sorry, but we have to continue this... umm... later... but as soon as possible." Then, still with a faint blush on her face, she grabbed her school uniform and rushed into the bathroom. Suddenly, a door leaning next to the entrance caught her eye again.

"Umm... Ruby?", Weiss asked cautiously, "Since there's no way to close this door, could you, and I really hate to ask you this, go into the closet until I'm done showering. I'll get you so you can do the same when I'm finished."

"Go back into the closet?", Ruby asked with a grin, "I guess it's a little too late for this now, Snowflake."

"That's not what I meant, you dolt.", Weiss sighed but a small smile crossed her face nonetheless.

"I know. It was just a joke. Enjoy your shower.", Ruby said with a happy smile and entered the other extra room of their dorm room.

After that, the crimsonette looked for her own school uniform in the closet while Weiss occupied the bathroom. But before that, she wrapped her arms around herself to inhale every last bit of the scent Weiss' body had left on her. Then, the crimsonette suddenly reconsidered. She knew she would have a lot of opportunities left to shower for herself (so this little closet-game won't have to continue), at least at the gym since she hadn't kept her promise to work out yesterday. But for now, she didn't want to wash Weiss' scent off of her just yet.

'After classes, I will go exercising, then shower, then hug and kiss Weiss until we both can't breathe anymore.', Ruby told herself, 'But for now, _this_ will have to last at least a little...', she thought as she pressed her own school uniform as close to her still Weiss-warm body as possible.

'This isn't overly attached behavior, isn't it?', Ruby told herself smiling, 'And even if... I really don't care. She's _my_ Weiss now.'

* * *

They got through classes like they did yesterday, so whenever they could they secretly held hands. Weiss took even more care to write down her notes as clean as possible, not that there was a lot of room for improvement anyway. But she knew that, besides Blake and Yang, Ruby would have to copy them later as well since her writing with her right hand was still almost unreadable, at least in the heiress' opinion. Not that she was about to mind as long as her fingers could be intertwined with these of her crimson-haired girlfriend.

After they had finished all of their lectures, Weiss suddenly remembered that her Scroll had kept buzzing all the time during the first half of their last class. She had almost forgotten about it since her mind had been occupied with her girlfriend... and the subject material, of course. The heiress checked the device, only to find out that an unfamiliar number had tried to reach her four times in a row. That probably meant...

"I'll have to make an important call, Ruby.", Weiss explained, "I know you probably want your _Weiss-time_ again but I need a few minutes alone to get this over with."

"I wanted to go the gym anyway. But I'm trying to stay only two hours at most.", Ruby said and, after she made sure that nobody was occupying the hallways, she planted a soft kiss on Weiss' cheek, "Maybe you want to join me later? Otherwise, I see you in the dorm room, Snowflake... I'll claim my _Weiss-time_ soon enough."

With these words, the crimsonette strode off. Weiss, still blushing because of her pet name, took the opportunity to return the unfamiliar number's call. It rang just two times until a quirky, probably middle-aged man answered.

"Doctor Green speaking!", he juvenilely chirped into the speaker.

Weiss immediately recognized the guy on the other side of the speaker. He was a member of her father's medical staff and research team. It had been him who had made the last check-up of her before she had left to attend Beacon Academy.

Therefore, the heiress didn't waste any second: "Doctor Green, such a pleasure to finally talk to you.", Weiss answered, trying to hide her grudge against the physician as much as possible, but barely successful.

"Oh... Miss Schnee... I... expected your call.", the doctor said, clearly intimidated by the person who had called him.

"Listen up, I'm not in the mood for small talk.", the heiress gnarled, "I assume you already read my message. Is there anything you can assist me with to... regress the urges that come along with my... abnormal anatomy?"

"Miss Schnee... I know you are resentful because of everything that had happened. I still regret participating in this project. But please consider that..."

"Is there _anything_ you can assist me with!", Weiss spat with emphasis, "If you aren't of any use, please don't waste my precious time!"

"Well... regarding your request...", Doctor Green said and the heiress could almost hear that he was adjusting his glasses to stall for time, "There really is something that _may_ be of help... But I can't..."

"I want this compound!", Weiss interrupted him harshly.

"Miss Schnee. This medication is highly experimental, to say at least. It has barely been tested on humans yet. I can't give it out to you with a clear conscience, knowing that..."

"Your conscience isn't my concern!", Weiss gnarled, well knowing she had the upper hand in this conversation, "I want these meds delivered as soon as possible, hopefully by tomorrow, to Vale's Central Pharmacy. Otherwise, I may let a word slip out about a defiant scientist who won't obey orders from his superiors. And I guess father will be more than disgruntled about such kind of a review. Have I made myself clear?!"

"Of course, Miss Schnee. I apologize, Miss Schnee. Your medication will be on its way, Miss Schnee...", the scientist rattled down his speech, "But as a doctor, I still have to inform you about the side effects."

"I'm all ears...", Weiss said, utterly incurious and a little hostile.

"Side effects include...", Doctor Green began, "Common: dry mouth, vertigo, headache, stomachache, fever, anorexia, lack of concentration...", he made a pause, "Rare: insomnia, anemia, rash, vomiting...", another pause, "Very rare: diarrhea, pneumonia, haemophilia and internal bleeding... Are you sure you still want to..."

"I want these meds aboard the next airship heading to Vale.", Weiss gnarled, "If I'm not able to pick them up by tomorrow afternoon, heads will roll. Am I understood?!"

"O-of course, Miss Schnee!", the doctor assured, "I will fulfill your request immediately. But please... promise me to find medical aid if some of the side effects occur. At least most of the components of these meds are easily remediable. Best regards and... please... be careful..."

Weiss was taken aback a little at these last words but replied nonetheless: "Thanks a lot. I hope, for me and for _you_ , you'll keep your promise, Doctor Green." Then she ended the call abruptly.

There were a lot of side effects... but Weiss didn't let herself get bothered by this. Most of them won't apply anyway, she was sure of that. Even if most of the common stuff would happen, she could live with it. Headache, stomachache, lack of concentration... It would probably mean a little set-back in her studies. Yeah... she probably won't be able to perform at her best and her grades would slip a bit if she couldn't counteract by studying harder.

But this time it wasn't about her grades. This time it was about _Ruby_ , and this was more important... important enough to not give a flying fuck about a perfect grade anymore. Getting immaculate, or even acceptable results couldn't compare to the feeling Ruby gave her. The crimson-haired girl was more important than everything! And if she had to give up her _always-be-perfect-_ attitude, then so be it. Her girlfriend first, and everything else second.

'Don't worry, Ruby....', the heiress thought, 'This disgusting thing I possess won't bother us anymore, I promise!'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drastic times call for drastic measures, am I right... I just hope Weiss doesn't bite off more than she can chew... After all, Doctor Green said a lot about the meds are still pretty experimental and there will be a lot of side effects...
> 
> Since I'm no doctor myself (just a linguist who barely could finish his master thesis), I have no idea how reasonable the mentioned side effects are. If anyone here is proficient in this medical stuff, please tell me your opinion and/or improvement suggestions.
> 
> You may have noticed that I try to stick to the 'Color naming scheme' in the RWBY-Universe. Green is pretty self-explanatory, but Herbert, or the second part of it, is derived from the old Germanic word 'berath', which means 'bright'. Additionally, the short version of the name, 'Herb', can also refer to some kind of healing herbs (which makes sense, since he is a doctor). So I guess his first name applies to the scheme as well.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Leave a comment and stay tuned.  
> LCS


	13. Presents and Prescriptions

It was about two p.m. on Thursday when Weiss suddenly got a message on her Scroll: "Your medication has arrived at Vale's Central Pharmacy in the commercial district. Please be careful about this and IMMEDIATELY seek medical aid if one of the side effects occurs. Best regards, Dr. H. Green."

'Finally...', the heiress thought, 'As soon as I get these pills Ruby and I have nothing to worry about anymore.' She squeezed the hand that she was holding right now a little bit stronger and, of course, the crimson-haired girl noticed that.

"Is anything the matter?", Ruby whispered while she tried to focus on taking notes with her off hand... again.

"Nothing...", Weiss answered, "Just glad that you're right beside me."

The crimsonette blushed a bit at that but gave her girlfriend's hand a reassuring squeeze herself. If felt relieving that Weiss was getting more comfortable with this whole relationship-stuff.

"By the way... I have to go to Vale to pick up something important.", Weiss stated, still quiet enough to not interrupt the lecture they were attending, "It'll probably consume some of your _Weiss-time_ , but I promise I'll make it up to you."

"No biggie.", Ruby said with a reassuring smile, "I have to go to Vale anyway. We can go together, so no heavy losses in this."

'Damn it...', Weiss thought. There was no way she could retrieve her medication with Ruby on her tail. The crimsonette didn't need to know about this. Weiss needed an excuse to get rid of her girlfriend for a few hours. Suddenly, she had an idea.

"That's not an option, Ruby.", Weiss told her partner quietly, "It would ruin the surprise. And even now I have already said too much... So stop snooping, my adorable dolt."

"Ohhh... a surprise?", Ruby chirped but immediately put her hand over her mouth, since Doctor Oobleck interrupted his rambling and glared at her. She held up her hand in apology and deflated, a sign for their lecturer to continue, which he did.

"Then I'll take a different airship, so I won't ruin everything.", the crimsonette whispered, "Tell me when you are heading to Vale and I'm gonna take an airship a few hours later."

"Okay. I thought about heading to Vale soon after this lecture. Maybe I'll get the airship at three.", Weiss answered, "Maybe you can take the one at five o'clock, so we won't get in each other's way... I mean... until we're both back at the dorm room, that is.", she added seductively.

"Sounds good to me...", Ruby whispered, equally seductive, and brushed over the heiress' thigh with their intertwined hands, "Do you think this surprise will give you some _bonus points_?"

"T-that's not what I meant by this...", Weiss hissed, furiously blushing, and pulled her hand away from Ruby's since she felt a sudden, pretty forceful twitch in her nether regions, "Get your mind out of the gutter." She crossed her legs and turned away a little from the crimsonette, trying to keep her secret down... fortunately successfully.

"Sorry... I was just kidding... obviously...", Ruby told her girlfriend with a chuckle but immediately scolded herself inwardly, 'Too pushy again... stupid, stupid, stupid!'

* * *

Before Weiss knew where all the time went she sat in an airship heading to Vale. As soon as the lecture was over she headed to the airport, trying to get as far away from Ruby as possible. Her secret almost had bothered them again today, but Weiss was certain that, as soon as she retrieved her meds, this wouldn't be the case anymore. Unfortunately, she had to refer to a white lie to get Ruby off of her tail, so she needed a gift for her girlfriend before she could return to the dorm room.

'Okay... first I have to think of a surprise gift for Ruby, then I can go to the pharmacy and get my meds...', the heiress thought.

Chocolate chip cookies probably were the easiest choice but Weiss thought it would be a little dull. Maybe a Beowolf plushie... No, too childish, and even if Ruby probably would appreciate it, it wasn't the heiress' style. Wait... Ruby was a weapon fanatic! Maybe a new part for her abomination of a scythe was the best choice to go with. With that in thought, Weiss made her way to the commercial district, more specifically to one of Vale's best weapon shops.

* * *

Weiss entered the facility with a disapproving look on her face. Most of the clients accessing this kind of shop were thugs and brutes, people she despised... but she immediately felt bad about thinking that kind of stuff since Ruby really liked to shop here, too. The heiress shook that thought out of her mind and showed her Beacon Identity Card to the clerk at the counter, so the guy knew she wasn't some kind of rapscallion. Then she went browsing.

'If I were a childish, easily fascinated, yet lovely weapon enthusiast, what would I be searching for...', Weiss thought as she made her way through the aisles. Ruby gushed over her _sweetheart_ occasionally, so the white-haired girl probably knew almost as much about it as her girlfriend.

'I never thought that saving that kind of information would help me someday.', she thought as she kept her eyes open for something that would make a good gift for the younger girl.

Weiss had no idea how long she had been strolling through the aisles of this ridiculously huge store. Ruby frequented it for Dust knows how long now and she immediately found everything she was looking for. Sometimes the heiress regretted that she put that less effort in improving her own weapon. This was one of those times.

But then, suddenly, she found herself in an aisle packed full of sniper scopes. And there also was someone of the staff filling in storage racks. Jackpot!

"Excuse me!", Weiss addressed the clerk, "I'm looking for an extraordinary scope as a gift for my... partner at Beacon. Can you help me? Only the best, of course."

"No problem at all.", the guy, a young looking deer-Faunus, replied and immediately grabbed a scope from the top of a shelf, "I, personally, would recommend this one. Our top-seller! Hunting-Hawk HPS. Comes with extended eye relief, zero-stop, and an extra-narrow tube. Has a top end of 25X, enough to make shots out at 1,000 yards and beyond with inch-precision. Easily adjustable, pretty lightweight, self-cleaning and, of course, highly durable in the field."

Then he rubbed the back of his head a little shyly and added, "Unfortunately, it is pretty expensive. But if you want to buy the best product within our cost-benefit ratio I would recommend..."

"I'll take it.", Weiss cut the clerk off, "The Hunting-Hawk... consider it bought."

"But... Miss...", the clerk said, eager to give the white-haired girl the best advice possible, "Even if the H2 HPS is the best, there are other..."

"Money is not an issue.", Weiss reassured the deer-Faunus, "My partner only deserves the best of the best and I'm willing to pay for that."

"Of course.", the clerk suddenly said and added politely, "I apologize for not taking your earlier request seriously. Is there anything else I can help you with, Miss?"

"Is it possible to individualize this scope?", Weiss asked, "Like, to lacquer it in a crimson red and maybe engrave something?"

"No biggie at all, Miss.", the deer-Faunus stated energetically and grabbed the scope the heiress asked for again, "You're in Vale's most popular store for aspiring Huntsmen and Huntresses. Tell us what you want and we'll finish it in a few hours. Engraving is a little bit pricey, though, but since you picked the most expensive scope and you already told me money isn't an issue..."

"Yeah, I got you.", Weiss interrupted the enthusiastic speech, not scolding or anything, but still determined, "I want you to lacquer this scope in a crimson red shade and engrave the following words around the scope... do you have something to take a note?"

"Of course.", the deer-Faunus answered and pulled a notepad and a pen out of his pocket, "I'm all ears."

"Engrave around the eyepiece: 'I'm the last thing you never see!'. With an exclamation mark at the end.", Weiss ordered, reciting a ruthless sniper from a novel she had recently read.

"Whoa... sounds like you got yourself a deadly partner.", the deer-Faunus chuckled, "We're gonna try and get this done immediately. It'll probably take two or three hours, top priority, of course. Please fill in a registration at one of our registers and we'll be right at it. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No. That'll be all.", Weiss responded politely and took the scope and the note from the clerk, "I'll be back to collect the finished scope in the evening." With these words, the heiress made her way to the counter.

* * *

When Weiss exited the weapon store it was almost half past four; she had spent almost an hour in this shop.

'Okay, that took longer than expected.', the heiress thought, 'Anyway, pharmacy's next, then I can meet up with Ruby, maybe grab a bite to eat, and somehow retrieve the finished scope in secret around seven. Sounds like a good plan.' She checked the time on her Scroll one last time, then she headed for Vale's Central Pharmacy.

* * *

As soon as Weiss entered the building she almost had a heart attack. At the counter, talking to the clerk, stood a girl with black and red-tipped hair, a black and red outfit and a red cape. What was Ruby doing here for Dust's sake? Fortunately, she hadn't noticed Weiss entering, so the heiress hid behind one of the shelves. She caught a few scraps of the conversation going on between her girlfriend and the woman behind the counter.

"Here you go, Miss Rose.", the clerk said, "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Nope. That's all.", Ruby chirped, "Thanks again and have a nice day."

"Likewise.", the clerk answered, then the crimsonette grabbed a plastic bag and left the pharmacy without noticing her hiding girlfriend, much to Weiss' relief.

'But why did she come here in the first place?', the heiress pondered, 'Everything we need we can get at Beacon's medical ward... well, almost everything...' With her last thought in mind she came out of hiding and headed to the counter herself.

"Excuse me.", she addressed the clerk, "I'm here to pick up a package from Dr. Herbert Green from Atlas. The name's _Schnee_."

"May I see your ID, please?", the woman behind the counter responded, checked the card Weiss held up to her and went to the back of the pharmacy. After about three minutes she returned.

"Got it.", she said and put the small package on the counter, "Umm... if you allow the question, it's stated on one of the many warning labels that this stuff is highly experimental, so why did this Dr. Green stress the urgency of this delivery so much?"

"It's for a very important research project.", Weiss lied without batting an eyelash, "Thanks a lot. That will be all."

"Alright, Miss Schnee.", fortunately, the clerk seemed to be satisfied with the answer, "Have a nice day."

"Likewise.", Weiss responded, grabbed her package and left the pharmacy.

* * *

Outside, the heiress immediately opened the small box. Inside was a plastic bottle containing the meds and a patient information leaflet. Weiss threw the cardboard away, stored the container inside her purse and unfolded the information sheet. Like Dr. Green had told her yesterday, there were a lot of side effects and things to consider, but Weiss didn't care. The only information she needed was the recommended dosage: Two pills a day at the maximum, one in the morning, one in the evening, preferably after a meal.

Weiss threw the leaflet away too, fished the container out of her purse again, popped it open and took one of the plain, white pills. It tasted awful but the white-haired girl choked it down anyway.

'Okay, _highly experimental substance_...', she addressed the meds in her mind, 'Show me what you got.'

A buzzing in her pocket shook her out of her thoughts. Weiss put her medication back into her purse and grabbed her Scroll. She got a message from Ruby, but as soon as she read it, she raised an eyebrow: "Hey Snowflake. I'm heading to the airship right now. If you're still in Vale, meet me at the airport at half past five? :-*"

Okay, now that was weird. Weiss knew that Ruby was already in Vale. So why was she lying to her? Maybe she had to run a secret errand herself. But why had she been at the pharmacy then? The heiress' curiosity was enormous, but she knew she couldn't confront Ruby about that because then she had to explain why she had been at the pharmacy herself.

The white-haired girl came to the conclusion that it was probably the best to play along and simply texted back: "Alright. Meet you there."

* * *

When Weiss arrived at the airport at half past five precisely, Ruby already waited for her outside, obviously, since she had taken an earlier flight. The 5 o'clock airship from Beacon had barely landed by now, and even the crimsonette and her speed Semblance would've had a hard time to get out of the airport this fast. But the white-haired girl knew better than to ask weird questions.

As soon as the crimsonette spotted her partner, she rushed over to her, leaving a trail of rose petals in her wake, and pulled the heiress into a tight hug.

"Hey, Weiss.", Ruby chirped, "I missed you."

"I... missed you, too...", Weiss wheezed, "But right now... I'm missing air..."

"Oh, sorry.", Ruby immediately let go of her girlfriend, "I have to stop doing that."

"No, you don't.", Weiss reassured the crimson-haired girl after taking a deep breath, "If I was going to die, I would like that to be the cause."

"Awww... that's so sweet of you.", Ruby said delighted, "But then I would need another Weiss. And I don't want another Weiss. I want this one."

"Okay... enough sappy talk.", Weiss sighed, but still smiled, "You said you needed to run an errand in Vale, too. So why not finish that first and then we grab a bite to eat?"

"Oh... umm... I... I really didn't need to do anything in Vale.", Ruby explained, but the heiress knew she was obviously lying, "I just came up with this so I could tag along with you."

"I... appreciate that.", Weiss played along, "So... how about a place to eat something? Anything in mind? I take your lead since I left you alone without any expla..."

"Pizza!", Ruby cheered and rambled on, "There's a cool new place near the docks. They put cheese or even sausages into the crust and you can choose your own toppings. And they have a totally awesome barbecue sauce instead of the normal pizza sauce and..."

"Alright, I get it: My cute, little dolt is craving greasy, meaty junk food.", Weiss chuckled.

"Hey! I'm taller than you. You're just wearing heels all the time.", Ruby pouted jokingly, "And pizza is awesome, no objections!"

"Okay, you're right. My cute, _big_ dolt is craving greasy, meaty junk food.", Weiss corrected, "Now then, lead the way, my fearless leader."

"Thy will be done! This way!", Ruby cheered, grabbed Weiss' hand and took off like a bullet.

'Sometimes I really wonder why I fell so utterly in love with this stupid, adorable dolt in the first place...', the heiress thought, in a weird mixture of immense happiness and slight annoyance, while she was dragged around the city.

* * *

The restaurant Ruby had chosen for them was actually quite nice. Weiss didn't have to eat some kind of greasy pizza but got a really tasty piece of spinach lasagna instead. Ruby, of course, ordered herself a 14-inch pizza with cheese in the crust, topped with this place's famous BBQ-honey-sauce, salami, ham, bacon, eggs, mushrooms, red onions, red peppers, pineapple and extra cheese on top. And after she had eaten this abomination of a pizza _completely_ , she also ordered a Strawberry Sundae to _round off the meal_ , as she put it.

"How can you eat this much and still not gain a single percent of body fat?", Weiss asked astonished as she finished the last, prim-sized bite of her lasagna.

"Professional secrecy.", Ruby answered with a smirk as she messily gobbled down the last spoon of her dessert, "Want some?" Then she tried to coat her lips with as much ice cream as possible and made a kissy face.

"No, thanks... But the food bills will be horrendous when we're going to live together after Beacon...", Weiss sighed, but immediately blushed after she realized what she just had said.

"So... you think that we're going to be together after our time at Beacon?", Ruby asked surprised, but incredibly hopeful, licking her lips clean of ice cream.

"I hope that we'll be together for the rest of our lives, dolt.", Weiss answered with a grin and a slight blush, even if the gruesome shadow of her family's disapproval tried to force itself into her brain, "I mean, as long as you want to..."

"You really need to ask?", Ruby said and tried to show her disappointment jokingly, "I don't know if I can share my life with someone that insecure..."

"I'm sorry I brought it up.", Weiss responded challenging, "Alright, after we're done with our education at Beacon we'll just see how things are going to work out... Maybe we stay together... Maybe not..."

"No!", Ruby exclaimed, "I'm... I'm going to get us matching bracelets, which are actually handcuffs, and we're going to live together and die together. That's the plan and I won't tolerate any objections."

"A little bit disturbing, but I guess I can live... and die with that.", the heiress said smiling, "But if one of us has to go to the bathroom it'll be really awkward."

"Only the first few times. We'll get used to it.", Ruby stated casually and started to scrape out her bowl of ice cream.

"If you say so, Ruby.", Weiss responded with a roll of her eyes, but her smile didn't falter.

* * *

They had finished their meal and their chatter at about half past seven. Weiss generously paid for them, even though Ruby tried to intervene. Then the young couple decided to head back to the airport to catch an airship back to Beacon Academy. Weiss even managed to send Ruby ahead inconspicuously so she could retrieve the present in secret. The finished scope looked great, and, fortunately, the box was small enough to fit in her purse, so it wouldn't ruin the surprise. After that, the heiress caught up to her girlfriend and they returned to Beacon.

Back in the dorm room, Ruby came straight to the point: "Sooo... if I recall correctly, you said something about a surprise earlier this day. Can you tell me now what that is about."

"You're way too nosey.", Weiss sighed, but reached into her purse and handed over the present nonetheless, "But I guess I kept you in suspense long enough."

"Ohhh! I'm so excited.", Ruby chirped and started to tear off the wrapping paper, "I hope it's cookies, or a video game, or..."

But as soon as she saw the unwrapped box and the modified scope through the transparent plastic on the front, her jaw dropped.

"I thought you may like one of these since you always gush about your weapon so much.", Weiss explained, "It's... to make it up to you that I'm still terrible at this relationship-stuff. I still yell at you and I'm still hiding... _us_... from everybody. I know it's a little pathetic to resort to tangibles, but I want you to know..."

"I can't accept this.", Ruby cut her off, almost sounding a little desperate, "It's too much. Weiss, this thing costs a fortune. How do _I_ make _this_ up to _you_? You have to..."

"Don't worry about it.", this time, Weiss interrupted her girlfriend, "Considering how happy you make me, even this scope isn't enough. So I only ask you to accept the scope and be as happy with it as I am whenever you are around me."

"Y-you mean it?", the younger girl asked, still completely overwhelmed by the present the heiress had made her.

"Every single word.", Weiss reassured the crimsonette.

"Ohhh! Thank you, thank you, thank you!", Ruby suddenly blurted out and pulled her girlfriend into a tight hug, "I always wanted one of these. I love it! But I love you even more!"

"You're welcome, Ruby.", Weiss said and returned the hug, grateful that her little present went down well with the younger girl, "I also let them engrave something around the scope, so if you want to take a look..."

Ruby let go of her girlfriend and inspected the scope once more. As she read the quote, her eyes widened in delight.

"Wooow! That's sooo cool! Now I'm like Skye Tenebrae from _In my sight_. I love this movie!", she chirped, "I didn't even know you watch this kind of stuff."

"I read the novel. Blake recommended it to me.", Weiss corrected her partner, "But I have to admit, it was quite a good read."

"Thanks again, Snowflake. This is so awesome.", Ruby said, put the scope back into the box and carefully put that on the desk, then she returned to her girlfriend, "You know I really can't give you something that expensive, but I may have an idea how I can try to make it up to you... little by little."

With these words, she pulled her girlfriend into a gentle hug and pressed her lips on Weiss' own. She put one of her hands on the heiress' waist, while the other one caressed the back of her neck. Weiss responded by copying her partner's gestures until the made out passionately. Soon the white-haired girl felt a foreign tongue trying to invade her mouth, but this time she immediately granted access. The sweet taste of her partner overwhelmed her once more.

'If that's what I get already for just buying her a scope, I wonder what will happen if I go back to Vale and buy the whole, damn store.', Weiss thought lightheaded, while her tongue tried to explore every nook and cranny of her girlfriend's mouth. Suddenly, Ruby pulled away.

"So... how many kisses and cuddles until we're even?", the crimsonette asked with a gentle smile.

"This one already was completely worth it.", Weiss answered, panting a little, "I wouldn't mind a few more, but _that_ already paid it off, even more so."

"Keep the change...", Ruby whispered grinning and pulled the white-haired girl into yet another kiss. Barely two seconds later their tongues danced around each other again. Their hands started to roam over each other's bodies, still avoiding certain parts, but trying to touch as much as possible while remaining decent. But maybe someday...

'Ruby is so warm... so soft... I can't believe how soft she is...', Weiss thought, 'And she's mine. I can't believe she is mine... I can't believe anything. Am I dreaming? If so, I'm going to kill anyone who tries to wake me up right now.'

Then something else caught the heiress' attention: The anomalous part of her body didn't respond in any way. Of course, there was a pleasant warmth spreading through her body, especially in her crotch area, but her penis wasn't getting even slightly erect this time. This only fueled Weiss' passion as she guided Ruby to her bed and gently pushed her onto it, before crawling on top of her and continued to kiss her deeply.

'Now we can finally be a _real_ couple.', the heiress thought delighted, 'No more trouble with this disgusting thing I have. Just me and Ruby and our love. I'm so happy my head's spinning... I mean, that's what happiness does to people, right?'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lucky Weiss. The medication is working. She and Ruby can finally be happy together. Well, I guess they can move on to the next important steps now, like telling their teammates they're together since it's obvious that, regarding the meds, nothing bad is about to happen anymore.
> 
> If anybody is curious from where I got the quote for Ruby's scope, it's the motto of the 1st Recon from Fallout: New Vegas. I considered some quotes from other games and movies regarding snipers, even tried to come up with something cool on my own, but that one really was without competition.
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Leave a comment and stay tuned!  
> LCS


	14. Promises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LazyCatStuart, at it again. Ruby and Weiss are about to meet with another obstacle in their relationship. I'm pretty sure that at least some of you guys will disagree a little about the character depiction in this chapter, but just try to trudge through it. I promise that everything will work out in the end, even if there might be some aspects that you disagree with.
> 
> To the rest of you, enjoy!

Ruby and Weiss spent a wonderful Friday together. As soon as the lectures were over, the heiress practically dragged her girlfriend back to their dorm room. And as soon as the door clicked shut, Weiss pushed Ruby against it and started kissing her passionately.

Weiss felt so relieved. The fear about her secret bothering them was finally gone. Okay, it had been replaced with light vertigo, but this was just one of her medication's side effects. The heiress wasn't really bothered by it and also assured herself that this was probably the only one that would apply. One pill in the morning and one in the evening seemed to be the perfect dosage and the white-haired girl could finally enjoy her relationship with her partner and team leader without any weird interruptions.

"Seems like you are getting more and more comfortable with all this relationship-stuff.", Ruby said smiling, between the kisses.

"I know, it took me a while...", Weiss responded, "But now I'm all yours. And I think, I have my... thing... under control now, too." Of course, she withheld the real reason why this was the case.

"I already told you that I don't care about that.", Ruby explained, "I just want _this_ , what we have right now, loving each other, totally at ease. There's no way an, umm, erection could ruin this moment."

Weiss blushed at the word _erection_ but continued: "Anyway. I'm pretty sure we won't be bothered by this anymore from now on. So just don't think about it and kiss me."

"With pleasure.", Ruby responded and, of course, delivered.

* * *

They continued to exchange affections even while working on their homework, while they watched a movie on Ruby's Scroll, all the time actually. The young couple only separated for a few minutes when they got ready for bed. And, of course, that again referred to only Weiss' bed.

"Too bad that Yang and Blake are going to return to Beacon tomorrow.", Weiss sighed while they were cuddling, "I mean, I like them and they're my friends, but when they are back we can't sleep in the same bed anymore. And when they are around we can't be this close either. I know it sounds a little selfish but... I don't want to share you anymore."

"Getting possessive already?", Ruby said with a grin, causing the heiress to blush again, "Don't be embarrassed. That's actually pretty cute. And I like the things I can do with you a lot more than what I'll be doing with them." And to prove that point she pulled her girlfriend closer and planted a soft kiss on her lips.

"At least we have one more night just to ourselves.", Weiss whispered as they parted, then buried her head in the crook of Ruby's neck, "And I want to enjoy every single second of it."

"Ohhh... Having big plans for tonight?", the crimsonette grinned, "Now you're getting _way too comfortable_ with all this relationship-stuff if you ask me."

"That's not what I meant, you dolt.", Weiss explained swiftly and Ruby could even feel the blush on the heiress' face on her collarbone now, "I mean, tonight's the last night we can sleep in the same bed... well... until we figured out how to tell your sister, that is. But I reeeaaally don't want to rush that."

"I know...", Ruby sighed a little sadly, "And I won't rush you with that, too. But on the other hand, I want to get this over with as soon as possible, so we can at least be together in the dorm room. Y'know... _together_ -together..."

Weiss, too, let out a sigh and asked: "Have you set the alarm? Blake and Yang are going to be back at the airship docks at eleven, so we can at least sleep and cuddle until ten."

"Yup. All set. Ten o'clock...", Ruby said, but then corrected, "Okay... maybe half past ten."

"Ruby!", Weiss said a little scolding and faced her girlfriend again, "Don't you want to meet your own sister at the airport when she gets back from a mission?"

"I was really conflicted about this.", Ruby whined and pushed Weiss' face back to where it was just a moment ago. Surprisingly, the heiress didn't oppose to this. "I mean... I love my sister, and Blake, too. But you are so warm and soft.", the crimsonette pulled her girlfriend closer and planted a kiss on the side of her head, "And I won't be able to do this for a few days... or even weeks. It's such a hard decision."

"And you're such a dolt.", Weiss grinned at Ruby's weird comparison, "But a cute one, that is."

"You're flattering me...", Ruby said sarcastically, but still pulled Weiss' face back up gently by the chin and gave her another kiss on the lips. They continued to make out and cuddle for at least half an hour until they finally drifted off into a sweet slumber.

But their awakening would be anything but sweet.

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN???!!!"

The two lovebirds were awoken by a yell that could only be described as _beyond pissed_. It made them jump enough that they fell out of the bed, tumbling over each other in the process. Ruby and Weiss needed a moment to reorientate themselves but soon found the culprit.

At the door stood an irritated Yang, with a confused Blake in tow.

"Yang!", Ruby shrieked and untangled herself from the heiress, "W-what are you doing here? I... I mean, I know what you are doing here, but..." She glanced at the clock above the door. It wasn't even ten o'clock.

"Why are you here this early?", the crimsonette finished.

"We got to the evacuation camp sooner than expected and caught an earlier airship.", Blake explained and closed the door behind her, "Yang wanted to surprise..."

"Yeah, whatever!", the blonde cut her off harshly, "So what exactly were the two of you doing in the same bed? I hope it's not what..."

"Nonononono... nothing like that.", Ruby interrupted, "You see... I... I was having a really bad nightmare. And then I woke up and was terrified. And I asked Weiss if I could sleep in bed with her because you were away. And at first she didn't want to let me, but I begged her because I was so scared, and then she gave in. She even insisted on setting an alarm at ten o'clock, so you wouldn't find out she had degraded herself to do this. And so I climbed into her bed, and during the night we must have turned around a bit until we were this close and..."

Weiss suddenly came to a decision. Ruby didn't deserve to have to lie to her sister, as well as to hide their relationship she held so dearly, just because the heiress was afraid that Yang wouldn't accept it. And the blonde didn't deserve to be left in the dark about it. And Weiss didn't want her girlfriend to tell anyone anymore that they still couldn't stand each other. They all were adults and if Yang would have a problem with this relationship, then she had to deal with that all by herself. Weiss and Ruby loved each other and wanted to be together. Period!

"And that's why...", the younger girl rambled on but was cut off by her girlfriend.

"Ruby and I are a couple!", Weiss stated firmly and positioned herself right beside the aforementioned girl. The crimsonette shut up immediately. Blake's eyes went wide and Yang suddenly had an expression on her face somewhere between stunned and infuriated.

"Ruby and I are together since Monday.", Weiss continued, "I was in a really bad mood... no... I was devastated about... something... and Ruby cheered me up, she comforted me, and suddenly... it just happened. I'm having feelings for Ruby for a long time now, and she's feeling the same way. So yeah: Ruby and I are a couple, and we'll continue to be one, even if you have a problem with that. But I hope, at least to make your sister happy, that you can accept this."

There suddenly was an awkward silence in the room. Blake seemed to digest the news slowly and Ruby recovered from her trance. Yang, however, ground her teeth and clenched her fists.

"Please, Yang. Don't be angry with Weiss. She's my girlfriend now. And she really loves me, and I love her.", Ruby suddenly said, "We didn't want you two to find out that way, or lying to you, but I guess we can't change that now. And it was probably a bad idea to try and keep it a secret from you in the first place since we're all best friends. I really hope you don't have a problem with it and are happy for us as much as we make each other happy."

Weiss only gave a nod about this and pulled her partner into a single-armed hug. What was about to happen now had to happen, even if Yang would snap. The heiress would accept it, at least for Ruby's sake. The awkward silence continued after Ruby's explanation and the mood was getting uglier.

But then Blake broke it with a comforting smile. "Well... congratulations, I guess. I'm happy that you've found each other.", she said and put a hand on Yang's shoulder to calm her down, "Do you want to add something, too, Yang?"

Yang snorted angrily, gave Weiss a glare and her sister a _barely_ more friendly look, before she threw her backpack across the room and grunted, "I'm going to the gym." Then she left in a hurry. It was a miracle that the door didn't break when it crashed into its lock.

"Whew... went better than expected.", Ruby sighed and returned Weiss' hug fully. Then she gave her a reassuring smile.

"Better than expected?", Weiss yelped and wriggled herself out of the embrace, "If it wasn't for you, she probably would have killed me."

"No... she wouldn't.", Ruby reassured her, "And if she wants to, I would break up the fight. I love you both, so if one was about to hurt the other, it's my duty as a team leader to..."

"Urgh... Shut your rambling, you dolt.", Weiss cut her off gently and planted a soft kiss on her girlfriend's lips. She had calmed down a little after experiencing such support from Ruby. And she knew that she probably wasn't about to face the wrath of the blonde brute... for now at least. However, the white-haired girl could understand Yang's dislike of their relationship, given how she had treated Ruby in the past. Weiss would just need to show her girlfriend's sister that this wasn't the case anymore and the blonde would probably become more accepting. After all, Yang was anything but a bad person... just an overprotective older sister.

Weiss thoughts as well as her kiss with Ruby were interrupted by Blake clearing her throat.

"Umm... by the way... why's the bathroom door broken down.", the Faunus asked and pointed at the door leaning next to the empty, battered doorframe.

"Yeah... that's a really long story.", Ruby said and scratched the back of her head.

"Shouldn't we consider to call someone because of this already?", Weiss asked and raised one of her white eyebrows.

"I second that.", Ruby chirped and added with a grin, "That way, we don't have to go back into the closet anymore."

"You're insufferable.", Weiss sighed at this terrible inside joke, "You're lucky I love you."

"The feeling's mutual.", the crimsonette whispered as she pulled the heiress into another gentle kiss.

"I'm really glad you gals found each other, believe me, I am.", Blake said, "But since there isn't any option to lock this door, and it's obviously your fault, please change and leave for a bit. I haven't taken a nice shower in five days. With all due respect, but..."

"Oh... sure.", Ruby agreed, "We've almost left already." Then she stormed to the closet, grabbed her usual attire and rushed out of the room.

"I guess that means we're changing somewhere else.", Weiss explained, "Probably team JNPR's room."

"Wow. Barely a week together and you already know the other's thoughts.", Blake said with a smug grin, "So... when's the wedding?"

"Shut up, you... you... Urgh!", Weiss gnarled, blushed, grabbed her own clothes and followed Ruby.

'She makes it so easy...', the Faunus grinned inwardly, 'But I have to admit, they're pretty cute together.' Then she left for the shower.

* * *

Half an hour later, team RWBY found themselves inside the cafeteria, eating a late breakfast, chatting, catching up on Blake's and Yang's mission by the Faunus and enjoying their time together. Even Yang joined them after an hour of training (or to be more precisely: after blowing off some steam at the punching bag). Breakfast hours were over already, so the staff only served left-overs at the hour being. But they couldn't complain – even lukewarm pancakes of Beacon Academy's cafeteria tasted delicious.

Yang was silent over almost the entire meal. She still seemed to be on the edge. And after they all finished eating, she approached the heiress.

"Weiss, just a word with you.", Yang said calm but serious, "Preferably alone." Ruby was about to intervene but was stopped by her girlfriend.

"It's okay, Ruby.", Weiss reassured her, "It's just a talk. And I guess I owe it to her. I'll see you back at the dorm room."

Ruby only nodded but exchanged a nervous look with Blake. The Faunus only shrugged.

* * *

Yang and Weiss strolled through the corridors of the academy for a few minutes until they reached a pretty quiet part of it.

"Okay.", Yang sighed, "You know we're friends, even though we have some... disagreements about a lot of stuff. I can be pretty hot-headed, you can be... difficult as well. But in the end we get along, right?"

"I... I think so, yeah.", Weiss agreed, but getting more and more confused by the second.

"So I hope you don't take what I have to say the wrong way.", the blonde continued, "Ruby's one of the most important people in my life, so I want to make something clear. We both have our flaws, but me being hot-headed doesn't concern my sister. You being _you_ does. And we both know how you can be."

"So what do you want to talk about exactly?", Weiss asked, maybe a bit too annoyed. That was a mistake.

Suddenly, Yang pushed her against the nearest wall, eyes red and filled with anger.

"I mean that you're not exactly the person I want my sister to be involved with romantically. You're mean to her and you push her around. You don't treat her the way anyone should treat their _girlfriend_.", Yang snarled, "Okay, she loves you, and, unfortunately, I can't change that. But at least I can promise _you_ something: If you're _ever_ going to hurt my precious little sister, I'm gonna hurt you. And I'll assure you that you won't be able to recover from this."

Weiss was about to be intimidated by Yang's antics, but then she reconsidered. That wasn't about some minor business; it was about Ruby... and her. _Th_ _em_! And suddenly, with a newfound strength the thought of Ruby gave her, she pushed the blonde away from her, forcefully enough to send _her_ flying through the air and against the opposite wall, letting the heiress' Aura flare up intensely in the process.

"I assure you I only have the best intentions regarding your sister and my relationship with her.", she started sober, but still slightly angry, "And I'll promise you I'm doing everything within my power to make her happy." She stepped closer to Yang, now intimidating _her_.

"But I'll also promise you... and every higher power existing...", she leaned closer to the still recovering blonde, "If you are about to sabotage the relationship between me and _my precious Ruby_ , I'll return the favor you've offered to me just now tenfold! I hope I made myself clear."

Yang was dumbfounded. This wasn't the Weiss she recognized. This was a completely different Weiss. Maybe the heiress always had been overzealous to prove herself regarding grades, projects, missions... but _this_ , _now_ , was something entirely different, and the fierce, almost deadly look in those icy-blue eyes confirmed that. The determination with what Weiss defended Ruby's and her relationship, even going so far to pick a fight she knew she'd probably lose, was something Yang had never seen before in these suddenly intimidating eyes. The heiress was dead-serious... and believing otherwise would mean to suffer the ugly consequences.

"Okay...", Yang began, "I see that this is pretty serious for you. But she's still _my_ younger sister. So everything that..."

"Shut up already!", Weiss said in a more despising tone even her former self, the Ice Queen, couldn't match, "Ruby's sixteen now. She can make her own decisions... And do you have the slightest idea how ecstatic it made me that this decision fell on ME?!"

The heiress blushed a little at that last comment but still tried to continue in the same, confident tone: "I love your sister, more than anything. And she does the same. And if you have a problem with this, it is yours alone. But you're very important to me, and to Ruby, so the most crucial thing I want right now is that you give me your approval for being your sister's girlfriend... Your turn, Xiao Long!"

There was a long silence in the still empty corridor. The only things audible were Weiss' nervous breathing and a grunt from a thinking Yang from time to time... but then, suddenly...

"Do you really love her this much?", the blonde asked collected.

"Like I said, more than anything...", Weiss answered and the look she gave the brawler didn't speak anything but honesty.

"Wow...", Yang sighed, "I've never seen you fighting for something that hard. And, hell, you pack quite a punch if you want to..." She kneaded her shoulder in the process.

"I'm sorry...", Weiss apologized, "It was the heat of the moment and I..."

"So, okay...", the blonde interrupted, "If Ruby's happy with this, and you're happy with this, I'm as well... trying... to be happy with this."

Weiss felt a wave of relief wash over her body. It felt like she had just overcome one of the biggest hurdles of Ruby's and her relationship. Her team accepted it... accepted _them_.

"Thank you.", the heiress said and couldn't help but smile, her anger suddenly blown away, "That means a lot to me."

"Yeah, whatever... ", Yang shrugged it off, but then added with a mischievous grin, "But I'm warning you: No funny business! Ruby's just sixteen, you perv."

"That's not... we've never done...", Weiss stammered, again shooting an angry glare at her teammate as her face started to match the color of Ruby's cloak.

"There she is... that's the Weiss I know.", Yang grinned. She still wasn't completely comfortable with the thought of the _Ice Queen_ dating her sister, but at least she now knew that the heiress took this relationship seriously, and that was all the blonde needed to know for now. Also, if Weiss would break her promise, Yang could still break _her_ afterwards.

'Okay, more friendly thoughts now...', the blonde told herself inwardly, 'You should give her a chance. Seems like she really loves Ruby and is willing to change.'

* * *

In team RWBY's dorm room Ruby sat on Weiss' bed nervously and awaited the return of her sister and her girlfriend. What if something bad had happened, like Yang was against their relationship and Weiss was about to break up with her? The mere thought of it made Ruby feel uneasy. Blake sat on her bunk and was reading, as usual, telling her leader every few minutes to calm down and not to jump to any conclusions.

The second Weiss and Yang entered the dorm room, Ruby was back on her feet. Her eyes met the ones of her girlfriend immediately, searching for a sign how their conversation had gone. But Weiss only gave the crimsonette a soft look and a warm smile, and Ruby suddenly felt like a leaden weight was lifted from her shoulders.

"Hey, Rubes...", Yang addressed her sister, "I'm sorry for being so angry this morning. Seeing you together in the same bed might have given me the wrong idea... I guess I still think I have to protect you and, well, Weiss wasn't treating you very well the last few months. But I know that has changed now, radically, it seems. So... if you... if you're really happy with dating the Ice Queen, I guess I am okay with that. I just want the best for you, you know that, right?"

Ruby was stunned by her sister's sudden change of mind. "You... You're serious?", the crimsonette asked cautiously.

"Well... I guess I am.", Yang explained, then she turned to Weiss and gave her a nod, "We had a little talk and we kinda sorted things out. She really seems to love you profoundly."

"Ohhh! Thank you sosososososo much!", Ruby chirped and tackled her sister into a bear hug that almost rivaled the blonde's own.

"Easy there, little Red.", Yang choked out her answer, a little desperate for air, "I still have some concerns about this."

"You don't need to be concerned.", Ruby reassured her sister, "We love each other. And Weiss won't ever hurt me. She told me herself and I believe her."

"Yeah, fine...", Yang said and wriggled herself out of the embrace, "As I said, I just want the best for you. So I'm just careful. Give me some time to warm up to the idea of you and her being a couple."

"That's good enough for us.", Ruby chirped, then she went to her girlfriend, pulled her into a firm embrace and showered the heiress' neck with kisses.

"But that might take a while...", Yang quietly grumbled to herself while she turned away from the two lovebirds.

* * *

In the evening, when they all were getting ready for bed, Weiss approached Ruby.

"You know what's the best part about that Yang and Blake found out about us?", she asked with a smile.

"Umm... There're many...", Ruby said thoughtful, "I have no idea what you are driving at... hey!"

The crimsonette was suddenly pushed back on Weiss' bed, gently but still firm. A mere moment later the white-haired girl was laying on top of her girlfriend and gave her a passionate kiss. And then another one... and another one... Soon they were under the covers, kissing and cuddling, as usual, totally absorbed in their usual evening routine before they would finally fall asleep.

"It's almost like you want me to hate you.", the blonde sighed as soon as she emerged from the bathroom and saw her sister and the heiress in the same bed again. But then Ruby gave her a pleading look (her trademark puppy-dog eyes) while pulling her girlfriend close like she was her favorite stuffed animal.

"Okay... fine... I said I'll leave you be.", Yang sighed again, "But if I hear any weird noises during the night, I'm going to pull you off of my sister and throw you out of the window, Schnee." With these words, she climbed on her bunk bed and immediately turned her back to the couple with an annoyed snort.

Ruby watched her sister's actions, then she turned back to Weiss and whispered: "My puppy-dog eyes to the rescue." Then she leaned in and gave her girlfriend another soft kiss.

"Yeah... they can be really convincing.", Weiss whispered back as they parted, smiling happily.

"Wanna hear something funny?", Ruby suddenly asked. Weiss only raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Then, out of the blue, the crimsonette started to moan erotically, "Oh, yes. Weiss... There. That's the spot. Don't stop, please. Oh Dust, yeah...", and gave her now utterly confused girlfriend a mischievous grin afterwards.

The desired reaction came immediately. "That's not funny, sis.", Yang grunted from her bunk, not going through the bother of turning around, "I'm going to carry out my threat, I promise."

"No, she won't.", Ruby whispered, only audible for Weiss. Then, with a giggle, the crimsonette snuggled up as close as she could to her girlfriend. Weiss, however, was still stunned, and, most disturbingly, heavily aroused. The sounds Ruby just had made were, by far, the most erotic thing she had ever heard. Even her dick had started to twitch as soon as these moans had reached her ears. Fortunately, because of the meds she took, it didn't get erect. But still...

"I guess I should increase the dose of these pills a little... just in case...", Weiss thought as she returned the embrace, "Maybe then this abhorrent thing will stay calm."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's that. Team RWBY knows about them and everybody is fine with it (more or less). Yang might have overreacted a bit, but, in her defense, Weiss can be a little difficult and Ruby's still pretty young. And seeing her sister heartbroken is probably one of the last things the blonde wants to see, so she confronted the heiress for a reason. We should give her some time to warm up to the idea of Ruby and Weiss being a couple.
> 
> Sorry that the update took a tad longer this time, but I'm working on something else on the side. To prove that I'm not slacking off writing, I'll tell you that it's another RWBY-fanfiction I'm working on, but I won't publish anything of it until I have at least three or four chapters done. It's an AU-setting about a topic I was almost completely in the dark about, so there's a lot of research that had/has to be done (For now, I won't tell you what it's about xP). Don't worry, I won't neglect this story, but I figured it would be nice to have something else I can work on when I should experience a writer's block on this one. Again, this isn't going to happen soon since I still have lots of ideas for 'I Could... If You Just Let Me'. I just wanted to try out something different for a change.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I promise to keep up the work on this fanfic. Leave a comment and stay tuned for the next one.  
> LCS


	15. You're Going to Be Okay

For the next two weeks, the young couple was in bliss. Blake and Yang had found out about them and they were fine with it (more or less). Admittedly, Ruby and Weiss had to dial the exchange of affections down a notch when the blonde brawler was nearby, but, all in all, they felt totally at ease.

There was only one thing that was concerning the heiress. Ever since her other teammates had come back from their mission, she took one more pill every day. First and foremost she did it so Yang and Blake wouldn't find out about her secret. She could always be close to her beloved dolt now and this caused her anomalous body-part a lot more stress. But, of course, it was also for her's and Ruby's sake. And it worked pretty well.

Unfortunately, Weiss noticed that her physical condition was getting slightly worse. Nothing serious, but the slight vertigo was now accompanied by an occasional headache and she was losing her appetite as well. There also was a tweak in her stomach sometimes, but Weiss didn't care. She was sure that all of this would go away once her body got completely used to the new dosage.

* * *

It was Thursday evening when Weiss' and Ruby's Scrolls suddenly started to beep. Yang was at the gym and Blake in the library, leaving only the two lovebirds in their dorm room.

"Sorry, random message.", Ruby childishly told the device, totally absorbed in a video game and mashing buttons on the holo-screen, "I'll need to save a village by slaughtering a bunch of King Taijitus with my glaive-rifle."

She had completely become one with the character she was playing, talking like she was inside the game herself: "Ohhh, that must've hurt! One down, seven more to go! Prepare yourselves, creatures of darkness!"

"Ruby, as much as I love your enthusiasm, even regarding the small things in life, you should sort out your priorities. That message could be important.", Weiss stated dryly, looking up from her textbook and at her girlfriend. She still tried to lecture Ruby but her usual scolding tone was long since a distant memory to the crimsonette.

"I'm going to check it once my fellow citizens are safe.", Ruby explained calmly and sliced her way through the horde of Grimm, "Nope! First the village, after that kissing you senseless, and then the message. See? Got my priorities all sorted out perfectly. By the way, you got a message yourself, Snowflake."

"I know, and I was about to check it, but it seems you still yearn for a scolding from time to time for old times' sake.", the heiress said jokingly, then she pulled her own Scroll from her pocket and opened the message. The smile she had worn on her face a moment ago faltered immediately.

"Our mission is about to start. We'll depart on Monday at six in the morning.", Weiss told her team leader and sighed. So much about their cuddling in the safety of their dorm room for the next week.

"What?! No!", Ruby whined and paused her video game, "What about my Weiss-time?"

"That's going to be severely cut down as long as we are out in the field.", the white-haired girl explained, "And please stop calling it _Weiss-time_."

"I guess there's nothing that can be done about it...", Ruby said deflating, "I mean, I really want to become a good Huntress, so this mission is pretty important to me, but I also want my Wei... y'know-time."

"Well... let's go to the depot and get our supplies.", Weiss suggested, "We should start to prepare for this mission as soon as possible."

With these words, she closed her textbook and made her way to the exit. Ruby pocketed her Scroll and was about to follow her, but then, as an idea struck her mind, she immediately came to a halt.

"I want an advance.", the crimsonette suddenly stated.

"Huh? What do you mean?", Weiss asked confused and turned around again.

"I want an advance on our time together, as a couple.", Ruby repeated, "I want to go on a date with you this weekend. A real date: going to a movie, or having dinner at a fancy restaurant. I want to do real couple stuff with you, just once before we have to go on our mission."

"You mean... going to Vale? As a real... couple?", Weiss asked, getting a little nervous at that thought.

"If anyone we know sees us, we just tell them we have a besties' night out before our departure.", Ruby explained, "But I want to have at least one real date with you before this mission. What if something happens in the field? Dove came back with a broken arm. Maybe one of us is in the medical ward afterwards, then we also can't be with each oth..."

"Ruby, please stop.", Weiss interrupted her abruptly, "I don't even want to think about that kind of stuff."

"You're right. I'm sorry...", the crimsonette apologized, "I didn't mean..."

"Let's do it.", the heiress cut her girlfriend off again, "Tomorrow, we're going on a real date. As a couple."

"You... you mean it?", Ruby asked, in a mixture of confusion and hopefulness.

"Of course, you dolt.", Weiss answered softly and pulled the crimson-haired girl into a tender embrace, "You're my girlfriend and I love you. I don't want to be selfish anymore and hide what we are, just because I'm a coward. You deserve better."

"I love you too, Snowflake. So... alright! Tomorrow we'll have our official first date.", Ruby said and returned the embrace. But then, suddenly, it turned into a bear hug.

"Oh! My! Dust!!! I'm so excited!", the crimsonette started to ramble while crushing her girlfriend, "Where are we going? What do I wear? Do you think I still fit into the dress I wore to prom? Or do I have to go shopping? Is it too late to go to Vale now? And what about..."

"Ru-by... a-air...", Weiss gasped out.

"Oh! Oh no! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!", Ruby immediately let go of her now slightly dented girlfriend, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah... I'm fine...", the heiress reassured the crimsonette, but still struggled a little to breathe, "Geez, when did you become _this_ strong?"

"Well, I'm always trying to better myself.", Ruby explained and scratched the back of her head, still a little ashamed of almost suffocating her girlfriend, "Y'know, my weapon isn't exactly a lightweight. So you need a fair amount of muscle."

Weiss' mind instantly drifted off to the image of the toned body her partner must possess now: 'Oh, Dust. I want to see her naked. No, Weiss, bad Weiss... maybe if tomorrow goes well... No! Stop it, you perverted mind!' A twitch in her crotch shook her out of her thoughts.

"A-anyway... I still think we should go get the supplies for our upcoming mission.", the heiress tried to change the subject and to clear her mind in the process, "As I said, we should prepare for this as soon as possible."

"Aye, aye.", Ruby agreed and saluted jokingly, "You take the lead."

"Isn't _exactly this_ your job?", Weiss asked and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh... yeah, you're right.", Ruby remembered and, again, scratched the back of her head in embarrassment, but then recovered, "So... to the depot!"

Weiss only rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile as she followed her clumsy leader out of the dorm room.

* * *

The faster Friday's lectures flew by, the bigger grew Ruby's excitement and, in addition, Weiss' nervousness. The heiress wished, with all her might, for some more time to prepare herself for this, but eventually, they sat in an airship heading to Vale.

Weiss was dressed in the same, sleeveless white dress she had worn to team RWBY's girls' night out three weeks ago. It was cute, trendy and accented the features of her slender form pretty well, and Weiss thought it was the best choice to go with, even though her lavish wardrobe gave her a lot of other acceptable options.

Ruby, however, wore the dress she had already worn to the Beacon Prom last year since she didn't possess a lot of formal wear. It was a beautiful dress, of course, but now it was probably a little too small... Over the last year, Ruby's body had undergone quite a few changes: Despite the crimsonette being a bit more muscular, that didn't attract _that_ much attention to the heiress (a bit nonetheless). No... But Ruby's body strained the clothing on just the right spots now. Her hips were a little bit wider than a year ago, her legs more toned, and the dress hugged her new-gained curves in a way that made the heiress' blood boil. And to top that... Ruby seemed to tend to her half-sister in at least one aspect: Her bosom had obviously grown a little over the last few months, not rivaling Yang's, but still... It seemed that the crimsonette had had some difficulties to fit into the upper part of her dress and unintentionally presented her girlfriend (and anybody else who dared to look) an impressive cleavage of her C-cup breasts.

'How am I going to survive this?', Weiss asked herself inwardly, grabbed her purse and felt the container of her medication through the fabric. She still had a slight headache and a queasy feeling in her stomach, but she attributed it to her nervousness, and not to the three pills she had already ingested today.

* * *

For their first activity during their first official date, Weiss had chosen an elegant restaurant for a fancy dinner. After that, they would go to the theater and see a movie and then just take a stroll through the city, maybe to the docks. It most certainly would be romantic to watch the sunset or, if it was too late for that, the moon and stars and their beautiful reflections on the water.

But for now, the young couple was about to enter one of the fanciest, most expensive restaurants in Vale. Thanks to her name, Weiss had been able to make a last-minute reservation for them, even though this place was fully booked for a long time ahead. They even got a booth in the back of the restaurant, giving them a little more privacy, much to the heiress' relief since she still wanted to keep her's and Ruby's relationship secret.

Both girls were greeted overly friendly as they entered, probably because no one wanted to upset a Schnee. The family's reputation wasn't the best after all; they were mostly feared, barely respected. Weiss was very aware of this since her opinion on her own father was pretty similar... with a side of blazing hatred.

A young waiter led them to their booth and then politely excused himself to get their menus.

* * *

"Even after a year it's still a mystery to me how you can fight in heels.", Ruby said as they took their seats, "It's barely an hour now and my feet are killing me already."

"It had taken me some time to get used to them, too, but since I'm an heiress I really hadn't had a say in this matter.", Weiss responded with a small chuckle at Ruby's remark, "If you really can't stand them, why did you put them on in the first place?"

"I wanted to look pretty for you.", Ruby explained matter-of-factly, "So I thought I had to wear all of this formal stuff: dress, heels and so on."

"Ruby, you could wear a potato bag and I'd still consider you the prettiest person in all of Remnant.", Weiss explained, "But I can't disagree with the fact that you look absolutely gorgeous in your attire."

"What can I say... I aim to please.", Ruby said and blushed slightly at the compliment.

They soon got their menus and ordered their meals afterwards. Weiss' decision fell on an expensive fish dish, which's name was unpronounceable to Ruby. The crimsonette herself just went with Fettuccine Alfredo (of course, she pronounced that wrong, too), since she knew nothing about fancy food and hoped it would taste a little like mac and cheese. Weiss also ordered a bottle of white wine, which she told Ruby would accompany their dishes well.

The young couple spent the next minutes with trivial chit-chat and, of course, a little flirting. Weiss had to admit that it had been a wonderful idea to go on a real date and they both were happy (even if the heiress still felt a little dizzy). But as soon as the salad arrived, Ruby suddenly hesitated.

"What's the matter?", Weiss asked while watching her girlfriend inspect the cutlery.

"Umm... which of these is the salad fork thingy?", Ruby responded cluelessly, "I've never been to such a fancy restaurant, so I have no idea."

"It's the most left one.", Weiss answered, "But why is stuff like that suddenly this important to you? I expected you to just dig in."

"I want this night to be perfect, so I don't want to make any mistakes.", Ruby explained, grabbed the correct fork and added jokingly, "Thanks for helping a peasant like me."

"Anytime...", Weiss responded with a grin.

* * *

Soon after they had finished the salad, their main dishes arrived. As expected, the food looked fantastic, and it smelled so, too. This time, Ruby didn't hesitate but just grabbed a fork and started to eat. And after Weiss heard a pleased _Mmmmm_ from her girlfriend, she did the same.

"Sooo? Was this the last time anyone came up to our table?", the crimsonette asked after she had swallowed down a huge fork of her pasta.

"As long as nobody is coming along to suck up to me, we don't expect any further interruptions, yes.", Weiss answered calmly, "Why do you ask?" But Ruby soon solved the mystery. The heiress almost dropped her own cutlery when she felt a bare foot gently caressing her calf.

"It's like secretly holding hands. Like we do in the classroom.", Ruby explained with a smile, "Probably even more subtle, so we don't have to worry about anyone noticing us. Are you okay with this?"

"I-I think so.", Weiss responded and blushed a little. She didn't return the gesture but still appreciated the physical contact. Both girls continued to eat while Ruby continued to secretly play footsies with her girlfriend.

Weiss knew these things were very important to the crimsonette and she wanted to enjoy and, of course, return them. But a slight twitch in her nether regions reminded her why she was so reserved about things like this. Okay, kissing Ruby in the privacy of their dorm room caused no problems at all anymore, but exchanging affections in public was something entirely different and caused her body a lot more stress. Hopefully, these pills would do their damn job!

Since they were busy eating it was suddenly pretty silent in their booth. But the whole time Ruby looked like she wanted to say something. She gave her girlfriend little, but still meaningful glances from time to time, before she seemed to reconsider and concentrated on her food.

"Anything the matter?", Weiss eventually asked with a mixture of curiosity and slight annoyance in her voice.

"No... it's... it's nothing...", Ruby answered and turned away shyly.

"C'mon, you can tell me anything.", Weiss reassured her with a sigh, "What's on your cute, little mind?"

"It's just... umm... this. This whole thing.", Ruby explained sheepishly, "We... on a date... together... It's just a little overwhelming, is all."

"What do you mean?", Weiss asked confused.

"It... seems stupid, and I'm probably stupid for having these stupid fantasies for so long... but now, while it's finally happening... real date, real couple, real everything... I mean... you have no idea how happy I am... how happy you make me, my little Snowflake...", she answered with a beaming smile and added in an alluring voice, "Thanks for all of this. I... I wish I could kiss you right now..." And to emphasize these words her bare foot wandered up Weiss' calf until it drew sensual circles around her inner thigh.

Weiss froze in place. She felt exactly what was going on under the table, how close Ruby's foot was to her... _that_... She felt another twitch in her nether regions, this time a lot stronger than the first one. But then she had another feeling, something she hadn't felt in a while. Her blood was running through her veins much faster now, and it seemed like it had a particular destination. A slight discomfort in her crotch area confirmed this, as her now growing penis strained her panties.

'This can't be happening! Not now!', the heiress thought terrified, 'Nobody here must notice! Ruby mustn't notice! I need some privacy to take another one of these pills! And fast!'

"E-excuse me, Ruby...", Weiss suddenly exclaimed and pushed her girlfriend's foot down with a shaking hand, "I-I have... to go to the bathroom... be right back!" Then she grabbed her purse and took off like a bullet to enter the sanitary facilities.

Ruby just looked after her leaving girlfriend. First, she was confused about Weiss' sudden leave, but then it struck her... or she thought it struck her.

'I guess I screwed up again... Too pushy, Ruby... Why do I always do this?', the crimsonette sighed inwardly, 'But why is Weiss still so uncomfortable around me? We're together for some time now. I really want to give her some time to adjust to this, but I want to... yeah... that's the thing... what exactly _do_ I want?'

She started to play with her food and sort out her thoughts while Weiss was in the restroom.

* * *

'Why won't this stupid stuff work anymore?!', Weiss gnarled at herself in her thoughts, 'These meds are just as useless as these damn scientists.' Her member twitched furiously inside of her panties, not getting fully erect, but still enough to push up her dress a little... and it won't stop growing. This wasn't supposed to happen, not today! This night was utterly important to both of them. That disgusting thing wasn't allowed to ruin it.

She fished the small pill-container out of her purse and swallowed two pills at once. Then she started to splash her face with ice-cold water.

'It'll go away. It'll go away. It'll go away...', Weiss reassured herself, 'This stuff just needs to settle in, which it should in an instant, and then I can continue my date night with... with...'

Suddenly, she felt light-headed... and sick... and there was some pain in her stomach. No tweak this time... pain.

'No... I've come this far. It worked so long. Ruby and I are finally...', the white-haired girl tried to sort her thoughts, 'We've finally... oh Dust, it hurts... Why does it... damn it... where's the toilet? Argh, my chest... No... please, no...'

* * *

Ruby waited for Weiss for about half an hour, still playing with her food, sipping her wine absentmindedly and trying to come up with some kind of apology for being too presumptuous again.

'Why does she take so long?', the crimsonette wondered, 'Did she climb out of a window, like that one guy I saw in a movie? No, Weiss wouldn't do that. But if... I don't have anywhere near enough money to pay for all this stuff! Don't be stupid, Ruby. Weiss won't dump you. Maybe she felt a little sick. Maybe eating junk food with me all the time had convinced her stomach that fancy food is poison now. Anyway, I should go check on her.'

With this in thought, she went to the bathroom as well.

* * *

"Weiss? Are you in here?", Ruby asked cautiously as she entered the restroom, "If you are, you're in here pretty long. Is anything the matter?"

Suddenly, she perked up her ears. There was a death-rattle coming from one of the stalls. The crimsonette looked through the gaps and made out a pair of white wedge heels and the bottom of a white dress, belonging to a person kneeling on the cold floor.

"Weiss? Are you alright?", Ruby asked, now really concerned, "Please let me in!"

"Leave... me alone...", a familiar voice rasped, "I'm... right back..."

The heiress' voice left nothing to imagination: she was in a really bad condition, kneeling next to the toilet bowl and sounding like she was about to die. Without hesitation and a determination she had never felt before, Ruby elbowed the door open, destroying the lock easily in the process, and entered the bathroom stall. Yet, she wasn't prepared for what she saw now.

Weiss was laying next to the bowl, her eyes bloodshot and half-lidded, almost like she was about to pass out. Her breathing was heavy and irregular. And in the toilet, Ruby saw a few contents of the meal she had eaten before... mixed with a sticky, red liquid.

"Oh my Dust, Weiss! What happened?!", Ruby asked fearfully. Then she noticed a small container that had fallen out of her girlfriend's purse, and a few pills scattered all over the floor.

"I took something... to eliminate... that disgusting thing I have...", Weiss answered weakened, "So we... could have... a true relationship... without me... being a monstrosity... I'm sorry... I've ruined... everything..."

Tears ran down the heiress' face now, and she started to gag again, but nothing came out except red-tainted saliva.

"Weiss! We need to get you to a hospital!", Ruby exclaimed, her eyes tearing up as well, "Back to Beacon! Immediately! I can't... no! I _won't_ lose you!"

She stuffed all of her girlfriend's belongings back into her purse, slung it over her shoulder and picked up a barely conscious Weiss, carrying her bridal style. Then she hurried out of the bathroom, kicking her heels off her feet in the process. They'd only slow her down.

When the crimsonette was about to leave the restaurant, a waiter wanted to yell at her: "Wait, you haven't paid for your..."

But Ruby cut him off immediately, tears in her eyes, and her suddenly menacing voice chilled the young man to the bone: "Call an ambulance, you idiot! My girlfriend's dying!" The waiter knew there was no room for objections.

* * *

"Help! Please, someone! Help me!", Ruby yelled. She had stormed out of the ambulance airship as soon as it had docked to Beacon's medical ward. She had only allowed herself to drop her girlfriend on a stretcher for a few minutes to let the medics take care of her. But once they had told Ruby that Weiss was stable, she had picked the white-haired girl back up again and hurried to Beacon's medical ward, running faster than she ever had in her entire life and leaving the airship medics behind in a flurry of rose petals.

The emergency staff of Beacon had already been informed as Ruby entered the facility with Weiss in her arms. A perfectly trained medical team awaited them. The white-haired girl was laid down onto another stretcher and hurried into the ward.

"Please! You have to save her. You have to do something!", Ruby yelled, on the verge of tears.

"Can you tell us what happened?", one of the doctors asked while they pushed the stretcher through the corridors.

"She took some pills... these ones...", Ruby exclaimed and pulled the container out of Weiss' purse, "She took them, because..."

"Ru-by...", Weiss rasped, "Please... no..."

But Ruby didn't care. She didn't care about Weiss' secret anymore, she only cared about Weiss herself. So she continued.

"Her father tried to change her gender after she was born and used some experimental Dust on her.", Ruby rambled on, "But it just gave her a penis, nothing more, and she was really upset about it. But then we fell in love and we got together, and then she tried to shut down her urges and took these pills. And today she took an overdose. And now you have to do something to save my girlfriend, I beg you!"

The doctor took the small container and looked up the components of the agent.

"Don't worry.", he then reassured the crimsonette, "All of this should be remediable. Your girlfriend will get some medication which will expel the toxins out of her body. Any other internal injuries will be treated afterwards and her Aura should help her fix them, too. If all goes according to plan, your girlfriend will probably recover within two days."

Still, he looked a little concerned but, fortunately, Ruby didn't notice it.

The crimsonette felt a wave of relief wash through her body, and she grabbed Weiss' hand and whispered: "You heard that, Weiss? Everything's gonna be fine. You're going to be okay. And I promise to stay by your side."

The white-haired girl barely made out what her girlfriend was telling her. But she caught a few of the last words which calmed her down a lot before she suddenly felt a needle entering her arm and everything went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> C'mon, we all knew that was going to happen. And we also knew it would end with a cliffhanger. I'm terrible... but not sorry.
> 
> Anyway, this (again) was a chapter that hurt a lot to write, at least the last parts. How much will Ruby and Weiss have to endure until they can finally be happy? When will Weiss learn to accept herself? Will she really be okay? And what about Ruby's feelings? I guess we'll find out in later chapters. Maybe I will answer at least some of the aforementioned questions in the next one. Maybe not. Depends on my mood.
> 
> I hope you could still enjoy this pretty sad chapter a little. Please leave a comment and don't fall into despair.  
> LCS


	16. Snowflakes and Rose Petals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay... Author's note for a REALLY important chapter... Think, LCS, think... thiiink...
> 
> ...damn it, my brain seems to be empty... So, how about a check list?
> 
> Weiss being all fucked up? Check. Despite all that, she's recovering? Check. Ruby being afraid of losing her girlfriend? Check. A scolding for doing something utterly stupid to protect their relationship? Check. Drama, tears, and resolutions? Check. An awkward but still romantic first time? ...
> 
> Well, sounds like we're good to go. And...
> 
> Hell, it's about time...

When Weiss finally awoke she felt pretty drowsy. It was dark outside and the room was dimly lit by the shattered moon. At first, the heiress didn't recognize the bed she was lying in since it was definitely not her own in the dorm room. But then she remembered. She was in Beacon's medical ward, after she and Ruby...

Fragments of her date night with Ruby came back into her mind. What had she done? She had ruined their first date. That day had been utterly important to the crimsonette and Weiss had ruined everything. Even worse, she had been lying to Ruby and had pushed her away again. She had scared the living hell out of her, when the younger girl had found her in the bathroom, barely conscious and vomiting blood. She had screwed up everything... probably beyond repair. Would Ruby break up with her? Was it over? Weiss felt a tear running down her face.

But as she tried to sit up she felt a tug on her hand. She turned to the left and saw a mop of tousled black and red hair resting on the edge of the bed and slender fingers intertwined tightly with her own. The other person's breathing had been calm and regular the whole time, but Weiss' sudden movement seemed to have woken her up.

* * *

Ruby groaned and used her free hand to rub her eyes. She felt exhausted. The last day had been horrible: Some doctors brought medical equipment into the room, attached some stuff to Weiss and left her and Ruby alone. The crimsonette had to explain the whole situation to Blake and Yang somehow without mentioning crucial details she knew the heiress didn't want anyone to know. Her teammates had stayed for a while but eventually left, too, leaving her alone again, worrying. There had been nobody and nothing to keep her company or to distract her, only the beeping noises from some monitors, and even they had vanished after Weiss' treatment had been finished and some other doctors removed all the medical equipment. The whole time Ruby had stayed awake, waiting for some reaction from her girlfriend that never came, only to finally succumb to her fatigue and to fall asleep.

But as soon as she felt a tug on her hand, she was wide awake again. Still utterly exhausted, but awake... because she knew to whom the hand that tugged belonged. She immediately got up and faced her girlfriend.

"Oh, Weiss. Thank Dust. You're okay.", she whispered, checking out the white-haired girl carefully, "I-I mean... the doctors told me you would be, but then they brought all this med-stuff and tubes and machines in here and I was really worried."

Weiss looked around and was left confused. There were no machines and tubes. But then she saw a little band-aid on her right arm, probably from an IV access. Ruby wasn't lying. She must've received some serious medical treatment. And everything just because of some weird, little pills.

"R-ruby... I-I'm... I'm sorry.", Weiss choked out, not knowing what to say in a moment like this, and looked away. And so she didn't see that Ruby's expression turned from relieved to angry... _very_ angry.

"You... you're sorry?! Sorry?! T-that's all you have to say?", Ruby asked reproachfully, but with a lump in her throat, "I-I was worried sick about you. I was terrified! I... I thought I would lose you! And... and you're sorry???!!! Taking these pills was the most stupid thing you've ever done! Probably the most stupid thing anyone had ever done! And _I'm_ part of the competition! How could you do something so incredibly dangerous, so incredibly stupid... and not even thinking about how I'd feel about it?!"

"I know...", Weiss sighed, her voice full of self-loathing, "I... I lied to you and I... endangered myself. I did... I did so many... _sooo_ many stupid things, I..." There was a long pause, only interrupted by Weiss' sobs.

"I understand it if you hate me now...", the white-haired girl continued, "...and if you... if you don't want to... to be with me anymore..." The heiress tried to look her partner in the eyes again, but her vision had gone blurry from the tears that started to pool in her own.

"I hate what you've done...", Ruby said dryly, and continued in a scolding tone, "And I hate that you lied to me! And, of course, I _really_ hate that you've put yourself in danger with these _stupid_ pills!"

But then, suddenly, her voice went softer: "But... I could never hate _you_... Okay, maybe a little, for now... But I would never break up with you... Weiss... I love you."

Ruby squeezed Weiss' hand gently and gave her a smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. As soon as the heiress noticed this, it almost broke her heart. Ruby was suffering because of her... because of her stupidity. But Weiss had only wanted to do the right thing, to suppress her exasperating urges... But that didn't seem to matter right now. There was still a lot she had to apologize for and she wanted to at least explain herself, but she didn't know where to start. Nevertheless, she knew she had to say something, at least to lighten up this ugly mood a little bit.

"I'm terribly sorry for ruining our first date.", the heiress apologized again, "I know I can't make this up to you, but I really didn't want to screw up tonight... and I..."

"Umm... about that evening...", Ruby interrupted, seemed to hesitate at first, but then continued, "Actually... it's... well, already Saturday night..."

"What?!", Weiss exclaimed, taken aback, "How... I mean... This Friday.... How..."

"The doctors sedated you for some time, so your Aura could concentrate on fixing the damage.", the crimsonette explained, "Don't worry, nobody besides them and I know about the circumstances... or your secret. Yang and Blake were here to check on you today, too... and I, as promised... never left your side... You're here for about 30 hours now..."

Okay, that made sense to Weiss. Ruby looked terrible: she had dark circles around her eyes, her hair was a mess (more than usual) and she looked emaciated. She probably hadn't eaten anything since yesterday... or showered... or slept, besides an hour or two of uncomfortable napping at her side. Weiss immediately felt even worse than she did in the first place. But Ruby had another question that threw her off guard.

"So tell me...", the crimsonette whispered, "Why did you think there was _really no other option_ than to poison yourself? Just because of your... penis?"

"Well, yeah... This thing is just too... demanding... I... I just didn't want you to do something you don't want to...", Weiss answered and her eyes started to tear up again, "That you don't feel forced to do... something... too early, or _generally_ , that would ruin our relationship... something that would drive you away from me. I don't want to lose you... my... Rose Petal..."

The last part only came out as a whisper. Weiss had thought a lot about a pet name for Ruby since the crimsonette had come up with something adorable, too. She couldn't call her a dolt now... or anymore. If anything, Weiss was the dolt now, and she knew it. Ruby deserved a cute pet name. She deserved so much more... probably a better girlfriend as well...

"I almost lost _you_ yesterday, Snowflake.", Ruby said, a little sob in her voice now, "Please promise me that you won't do something like that ever again."

"But what about...", Weiss started sheepishly, "M-my... thing... I-it will ruin everything... and it will act up every time we get close and I... I can't control it... and it will always disturb us... and I'll push you away again because of it. What else can I do to prevent this?", she finished in a desperate voice.

There was a long silence in the room. Ruby and Weiss just stared at each other, not knowing how to keep this conversation going.

* * *

"Maybe that's the problem.", Ruby suddenly said, "That you want to... prevent this."

"What do you mean?", Weiss asked confused.

Then, without warning, Ruby started to undress. Weiss' eyes went wide as she saw Ruby trying to get rid of her dress, untying the sash first. It was now that the heiress realized that her girlfriend hadn't even changed her clothes. But that wasn't important right now.

"Wha... what are you doing?", the heiress stammered.

"Maybe...", the crimsonette suggested as she tried to strip herself, "Maybe you have to get this... tension... out of your system.", she blushed furiously, but still continued, "And... into another one."

"Ruby, no! That's exactly what I was talking about!", Weiss exclaimed fearfully, "I don't want you to feel forced to..."

"Exactly.", Ruby interrupted calmly, throwing her sash away and went on to her dress, peeling it from her skin, "You don't want me to feel forced to do this. I don't feel this way."

A few moments later, the crimsonette's dress fell on the floor and Weiss noticed that Ruby wore the red lace underwear she had gotten on her last birthday underneath. The reaction of the heiress' body was about the same as last time: Since her medication wasn't working anymore, her penis twitched and started to grow... fast. Seeing them on the floor and imagining Ruby wearing them was one thing, but actually seeing Ruby wearing them, right in front of her, showing off her body without hesitation, was something entirely different. These undergarments, as unfit for her personality as they were, hugged her girlfriend's curves just, well, perfectly. There was no other word to describe it.

"I had some time to think about this.", Ruby said and fumbled for her bra clasp, "And I realized that I always wanted to be _this_ close to you... even before we actually got together."

Her bra fell on the floor as well and the younger girl's perky breasts came into view. Weiss was too stunned to say anything anymore, or to do anything else but stare. Her dick got fully erect in no time and the heiress pressed it down to her body absentmindedly, or it probably would've pushed up the blanket from underneath.

"I mean, in these... daydreams of mine... there wasn't a penis involved.", Ruby continued, "But I don't care about it. I want to be with _you_ , no matter what's in your pants. And maybe it will feel even better that way."

The crimsonette slowly stepped out of her panties and shyly presented Weiss her now completely naked body. She was nervous, but dead certain that this was exactly what she wanted to do – had always wanted to do: Being together with her cute, white-haired partner... in _every way_. Tonight, she would lose her virginity.

"I want to be intimate with you, Weiss.", Ruby said, crawled into the bed, under the covers, and looked her girlfriend deep in the eyes, "And I know you want it, too. We love each other, right? And isn't _this_ something people who love each other do?"

Weiss slowly started to progress everything that was happening right now. Her girlfriend laid next to her in a bed, completely naked, her penis was so hard it almost hurt and they were about to... No! That couldn't be happening! Finally, she got her voice back.

"N-no. W-wait, Ruby! We can't do this here.", the heiress stammered, "W-what if anyone finds us?"

"Nobody's going to check on us for a while.", Ruby explained, trying to calm an apprehensive Weiss down, "After the doctors removed all the medical stuff, they told me you need to rest and they won't be back until tomorrow, late in the morning. And visiting hours are not until ten."

Weiss was still utterly insecure about this. What if she did something awkward, something wrong? This would make everything just more complicated. What if she hurt Ruby? Her member was anything but small. Or worse: What if...

"And what if I get you pregnant?", Weiss interposed, "My... thing... is fully functional. And we don't have protection. You... You're just sixteen. If you get pregnant, you can't attend Beacon anymore for a long time. Don't you want to become a Huntress more than anything else? I could never live with knowing I've ruined your life."

"Well, umm... I kind of... already took care of that.", Ruby admitted sheepishly, "Remember the day you got me the new scope? I went to Vale a while before we met. And I went to a pharmacy... and I got, umm, birth control pills... with the fake ID Yang had gotten for me, so nobody would ask any weird questions."

"So that's why you were there.", Weiss exclaimed, and after Ruby raised an eyebrow in confusion, she added, "Umm... I saw you that day. I was at the pharmacy, too, getting my own medication. I hid behind the shelves, so you wouldn't find out about it. Anyway, why did you get them _that_ early? Back then we've been together for only a few days."

"I got them this early just to be prepared in case it would happen.", Ruby explained, blushing, "I knew about your... thing... and I knew it would happen eventually. I... I wanted it to happen, sooner or later... So I got them. Whatever we... _may_ do or don't do tonight... everything is totally safe."

Ruby seemed to be prepared for everything. And she also seemed to be completely sure about this since she had put that much thought into it... for over two weeks! Weiss was running out of excuses...

But why did she try, with all her might, to prevent this? Wasn't Ruby right in everything she just had said? Weiss wanted to be intimate with Ruby, well, at least some part of her body. But could she really blame her penis for this, considering how beautiful, how... sexy... the crimsonette was? Ruby was on the pill, so no worries about unwanted pregnancy, and the doctors won't check on them anytime soon. But most importantly: This _was_ something people who loved each other did.

Admittedly, it wasn't necessary to be emotionally involved to have sex...

But this wouldn't be just sex... This would be _making love_... and Weiss thoroughly and wholeheartedly loved her adorable dolt... no... Rose Petal... with every fiber of her very being.

"You really put a lot of thought in this, didn't you?", Weiss asked with a small, shy smile.

"Listen to me, Weiss.", Ruby whispered and put a hand on her cheek, "If you... _really_ don't want to do this, I can understand. I'll get out of this bed and dress up again, and we can pretend this never happened. I just want you to know that I love you, and I always will. I'm already happy with what we have now and we don't have to change a single thing. You're wonderful and I..."

Suddenly, the crimsonette's rambling was silenced by a kiss. Soft, yet trembling lips were pressed against her own. But this time, it was different... different from all the kisses they had shared before. Even if it wasn't as heated as previous ones, it made her blood boil and sent a current of energy through her veins. A hand found its way behind Ruby's neck, a warm, wet tongue entered her mouth... This wasn't a kiss, the crimsonette realized – it was Weiss' consent.

They were ready...

* * *

As careful as humanly possible, Ruby's fingertips brushed over the prominent bulge under the heiress' patient gown. Weiss' whole body flinched at the touch but she continued to kiss the crimsonette, getting more passionate by the second. Ruby slowly and gently ran her hand up and down the length, giving the tip a soft squeeze from time to time. But as the heiress moaned into her mouth, the crimsonette broke their kiss.

"Is... is this good?", Ruby asked self-consciously. She had no exact idea what she had to do, but she really wanted to please her girlfriend.

"Yeah. It feels... really nice.", Weiss whispered back as her breathing turned into soft pants, "Please keep going."

The crimsonette only nodded and kissed her girlfriend again. She withdrew her hand and reached under the heiress' gown to touch her member directly. This caused Weiss to flinch and moan again, but it seemed that she was slowly relaxing and felt more and more comfortable with Ruby's actions. The crimsonette's hand was incredibly soft, even though she wielded this coarse, heavy weapon all the time. Admittedly, Weiss knew that her girlfriend had delicate hands, she had held them often enough, but now that she felt them on such a sensitive part of her body, they seemed to be softer than silk. Ruby's touch alone almost made her lose her mind.

"Touch me, too...", the crimson-haired girl whispered lustfully between their kisses, grabbed one of Weiss' hands and guided it to her bare waist, "Wherever you want. But please, touch me..."

Since Ruby had wasted no time and immediately went for the, well, most interesting parts of her lover's body, Weiss wanted to follow suit. Therefore, her hand slowly moved from the crimson-haired girl's waist to her center. The heiress knew she had something like that, too, but never paid much attention to it, especially sexually. Everything sexual had been a red rag to her anyway. In her case, it was mostly associated with lots of problems, self-hate and a bunch of other undesirable things.

But this wasn't the time to succumb to grief. She was just as clueless as Ruby must've been right now, nevertheless, the crimsonette wasn't afraid and tried her best... and she was doing an amazing job so far. Weiss wanted to make it up to her, to make her feel just as good as she was feeling right now. And of course, she wanted to touch and explore her partner's body.

Weiss' hand slowly slipped between Ruby's thighs, over her pubic mound, and soon her fingers reached her core. The heiress realized that her girlfriend was already slightly wet down there as she ran her fingers up and down her womanhood, hesitantly at first, but slowly getting more confident. Her index and ring finger pulled Ruby's outer lips apart slightly, while her middle finger started to gently caress her silky folds. The heiress could feel the small entrance to her vagina but didn't dare to push inside. Instead, she continued to rub her middle finger against the inner lips while also rubbing her palm gently over Ruby's now hardening clit. A soft moan told her that, apparently, she did something right, so she picked up the pace.

The heiress' actions caused Ruby to get more eager as well. She started to stroke the shaft a little faster and concentrated more on massaging the tip since this seemed to be the most sensitive part of Weiss' member. Precum already started to leak from it and the crimson-haired girl used it to lube her girlfriend's dick up a bit as she ran her hand up and down the length. Ruby knew that she was already wet in eager anticipation for Weiss and was getting even wetter by the second, but still, this thing was huge. A little more lubrication was probably a good idea...

The young couple laid there for a while, kissing passionately and exploring each others' bodies, trying to find out what felt best for their partner. But as their need, their desire for each other grew stronger and stronger, the lusty spark becoming a roaring fire, their touches and caresses weren't enough anymore. Suddenly, Ruby pushed the heiress' hand away.

"As amazing as this is right now...", she began and got on top of Weiss, who didn't do anything to stop her, "But I can't wait any longer... or I'll go crazy."

She yanked Weiss' patient gown up to fully expose her lower half, then she pressed her body against her girlfriend's. The white-haired girl hissed as she felt Ruby's pussy touch the base of her cock. It felt so warm... and wet... and a thousand other things Weiss couldn't find any words for. But the most prominent one that entered her mind was _incredible_.

The crimsonette ground her folds up and down the first few inches of Weiss' length a few times, coating it with her juices, then she grabbed the shaft and lined the tip up with her entrance. As the glans kissed the channel of her girlfriend's sex, the heiress drew in another sharp breath. If just _this_ felt so amazing already, then what would truly enter Ruby do to her brain?

"This is going to hurt the first time, isn't it?", the crimson-haired girl asked with a small, nervous smile.

"I-I guess...", Weiss responded, equally nervous, "Are you really sure you want this?"

"More than anything...", Ruby answered, her smile suddenly losing all its nervousness and becoming one-hundred percent confident, "I love you, Snowflake. And I want to love you in any and every possible way."

"Me too.", Weiss replied, "I love you, Rose Petal." And after this brief exchange, the crimson-haired girl started to push herself down.

The heiress felt the tip of her cock pass between Ruby's slick outer lips. Pressing any further would mean truly entering her. It was about to happen - they really were going to have sex. The white-haired girl was still nervous, but somehow Ruby's confidence seemed to rub off on her. This wasn't something to be afraid of... it was something wonderful. It was the most amazing experience lovers could share with each other... and she would share it with Ruby.

"Weiss? Kiss me...", Ruby requested gently, and the white-haired girl complied immediately. And while their upper lips parted to welcome a slippery appendage, Ruby's lower ones did the same.

Both girls moaned into each others' mouths as the head of Weiss' dick overcame the resistance of Ruby's vaginal muscles and entered her pussy. The heiress was seeing stars behind her closed eyes as she felt the incredibly hot and tight grip of Ruby's silken folds on her tip. The crimsonette's vision suffered a similar fate as her folds were spread open widely by the large intruder. But that didn't keep her from pushing herself down further. Another inch entered her pussy, and another one... Then, suddenly, there was a resistance... a thin membrane that seemed to block the way. Therefore, Ruby's movements stopped.

They both knew what was about to happen, so the younger girl broke the kiss and buried her face in the crook of Weiss' neck. The heiress didn't say a word, she only ran her hand gently through her lover's hair as Ruby braced herself. It was obvious to the crimsonette that this was probably the worst, most unpleasant part, but she would endure it, she wanted to endure because it would mean that Weiss made her a woman. And that was all the motivation Ruby needed.

The pained shriek was muffled by Weiss' shoulder as the crimson-haired girl pushed herself down again and the tip of the heiress' member pierced her hymen. Ruby pulled Weiss as close to her as possible. Her whole body was trembling as she tried to breathe through the pain. But even though her mind was clouded with the sharp sting in her abdomen, underneath she felt nothing but relief... and pride... and happiness. She had done it. She was a woman now.

"D-dust... R-ruby... I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry...", Weiss whispered shakily and returned the hug, "H-hang in there... I promise it'll be over soon." She continued to run her fingers through her girlfriend's hair and left a trail of soft, little kisses on her cheek to comfort her and to distract her from the pain.

"It's o-okay...", the crimsonette responded, trying to sound collected, "I-it's actually not _that_ bad. Just... need a moment..."

Weiss went on to comfort her girlfriend and, slowly, Ruby's breathing returned to normal. The crimsonette's body stopped trembling and soon she relaxed into the embrace. The pain subsided but was replaced with another feeling. It was something Ruby couldn't quite classify, but it felt nice... and right.

"Whew... I-I guess I'm alright now.", Ruby finally said, still breathing a little heavy, and looked Weiss in the eye again, "But I really wasn't expecting _this_."

"Well, I guess my... thing... isn't something for beginners.", Weiss said jokingly to lighten up the mood... and to distract herself from the overwhelming feeling the little contractions of her girlfriend's inner muscles gave her.

"Probably.", Ruby admitted with a little chuckle, "But I'm happy that you are my first... I don't want it any other way."

"Likewise...", Weiss responded.

It happened almost automatically that their lips collided once more and their tongues danced around each other immediately. The kiss was, as always, filled with love and passion, but this time, there was something new to it: _raw sexual desire_. Therefore, while they made out, the crimsonette tried to push herself down further. And since their bodies were pressed closely together under the covers, she and Weiss couldn't see that a small bump on Ruby's otherwise flat stomach started to appear.

The heiress could feel her girlfriend's pussy slowly swallowing more and more of her dick, one inch at a time. The clutching tightness of these velvety inner walls made her twitch and groan into the crimson-haired girl's mouth while she tried to think of something else to suppress the urge to cum right on the spot. Every nerve of her body was on fire, but she wanted this whole experience to last as long as possible. Suddenly, she was shaken out of her lust-induced trance as Ruby broke the kiss once more.

"Geez... Just how much of you is there exactly?", the crimsonette panted.

"I d-don't know...", Weiss responded in a shaky voice as she tried to catch her breath, "A-about a foot... M-maybe a little more. But you don't have to... Oh, DUST!!!"

With an aggressive push from Ruby's side, another two inches of Weiss' throbbing cock disappeared into her snatch, but the crimsonette didn't stop there. Despite how huge the member was, she wanted to get _all of it_ inside. This time it was the heiress that had to bury her face in the crook of her girlfriend's neck as the pleasure overwhelmed her. Her dick released a huge glob of precum, which lubricated the younger girl's insides even more and made it easier for her to slide down further.

Maybe Ruby was pretty determined to take Weiss to the hilt, but after about two-thirds of her dick were inside her, the heiress felt another resistance, this time noticeably sturdier. She knew exactly what it was: she had reached the crimsonette's cervix, a barrier that protected Ruby's most sacred place.

The crimsonette seemed to know as well what was going on inside of her body; she was familiar enough with the female anatomy. But she also knew there were a few inches of Weiss left outside. And what a girlfriend would she be if she left these inches unattended? Therefore, Ruby tried to push down harder, but her cervix didn't give way... and it hurt. The crimson-haired girl winced in pain, but she didn't want to let it go at that. Another try, the same results... and again, pain.

"R-ruby...", Weiss whispered and placed a hand on her girlfriend's thigh, trying to hold her back, "Stop, please. I don't want to hurt you."

The crimson-haired girl also had come to the conclusion that pushing any further didn't work, so she responded, panting, but with a small smile: "I-I guess... it's a dead end there."

"Are you okay?", the heiress asked concerned.

"Yup. Totally fine.", Ruby said as she tried to calm her breathing... again, "What about you?"

"I-I'm fine too, I guess...", Weiss answered shakily, "I-I mean, it feels weird... but, umm... y'know, g-good weird."

 _'Good weird?_ What the hell is that supposed to mean? What happened to my... the thing... when you can use good talk-things...', the heiress thought flustered, unable to think of eloquent words (such as _eloquence_ ). She tried to clear her thoughts but failed miserably. Her mind was completely empty, besides two things: these gentle, beautiful, mesmerizing silver orbs that gazed down at her... that seemed to have been made just for her.

'If I could just drown in those eyes, I wouldn't care about dying...', she thought dreamily. Unconsciously, her hand reached behind Ruby's neck and she pulled her girlfriend into another gentle kiss. Both girls laid there motionless for a minute or two, bathing in each other's presence. They wouldn't mind if this moment lasted forever.

But a slight twitch of the length inside her reminded Ruby what they were doing here, so she pulled away again. Weiss' questioning glance was answered by a soft whisper.

"I'm starting to move now, okay?", the crimsonette explained her actions, "Tell me if I do something you don't like."

"O-okay...", the heiress whispered back, then she added with a gentle smile, "But I highly doubt that this is gonna happen.", which caused Ruby to smile as well.

Slowly, the crimson-haired girl pushed herself back up again. Weiss bit her lip to stifle a moan as she felt her shaft grind along Ruby's velvety inner walls. It seemed like the crimsonette's insides disagreed with her brain and didn't want to let the large intruder go, clutching tighter to it as if to prevent it from slipping out any further. But there was actually no need to it since Ruby herself wanted Weiss' dick back inside her just as much as her body.

The crimsonette stopped her ascent after about four inches, roughly half of what had been spreading her open before. Her whole body trembled. On her way up the tip had been rubbing against a certain spot that made her mind spin with pleasure. Ruby wanted to feel this sensation again, so, as soon as she came to a halt, she started to push herself back down again. It still took a little effort but her insides slowly accommodated to Weiss' huge member. On her way down, its tip brushed against this certain spot again, making the crimson-haired girl moan, but unlike the heiress, she didn't try that hard to hold it in.

Weiss' worries about anybody hearing them were forced out of her mind as soon as the sensation of Ruby's slick insides caressing her length rushed through her body. What had started as slow, clumsy movements soon became a smooth rhythm. With each thrust, Weiss' dick was hitting Ruby's cervix, but the crimsonette slowly got used to it. What had been pretty painful at first only caused her slight discomfort now, but the feeling of being so full of her lover made it all worthwhile. The young couple soon started to make out again, kissing passionately and moaning into each other's mouths. The only broke their tongue-tying kisses for barely a second to take a short breath, before locking lips again, pressing closer, wanting... no, _needing_ more!

Their little breaks, which became shorter and shorter as they made out, soon didn't provide Ruby and Weiss with enough oxygen anymore to continue at this pace. They pulled away from each other, panting heavily, their foreheads still touching. There were a few strings of saliva connecting their lips and tongues as they tried to catch their breaths again. Ruby even slowed down the movements of her hips but didn't stop completely.

"So... h-how are you holding up, Snowflake?", Ruby panted, a little challenging.

"B-better than expected...", Weiss answered, returning her gaze, "Y-you feel fantastic, by the way..."

"I'm... g-glad to hear that...", the crimsonette responded with a smile, "You do, too..."

And to emphasize these words, Ruby suddenly stopped her movements completely and just squeezed her girlfriend's dick with affectionate, internal muscles. Weiss, on her part, pulled the younger girl closer and ran her hands up and down her body, giving her supple butt affectionate squeezes as well. Encouraged by this, and finally having caught her breath, Ruby slowly started to move again but still made sure to continue massaging the member inside her with her inner muscles.

As much as the crimsonette loved being so close to her girlfriend, moving up and down the length in this position started to get a little uncomfortable. Therefore, she gave Weiss a soft peck on the forehead and pushed herself into a cowgirl-position afterwards. The pale moonlight illuminated her beautiful, naked form and Weiss couldn't help but marvel at it. But then, the heiress' eyes went wide because the small bulge on her girlfriend's stomach came into view.

"Wow...", the crimsonette whispered as she saw it too, "Look, Weiss... I can see exactly where you are inside me."

And looking was what the white-haired girl did. She couldn't avert her gaze from the protrusion right below Ruby's navel. Weiss knew that her dick was pretty big, but this was ridiculous. And she wasn't even fully inside her girlfriend. How could this _not_ cause Ruby discomfort?

Fascinated by the sight, the crimsonette hesitantly gave the bulge on her stomach a small poke with her finger. Weiss' reaction came immediately and it consisted of a suppressed wail as she arched her back and clawed at the bed sheets.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry!", Ruby immediately said, "D-did I hurt you?"

"No...", Weiss responded, panting heavily, "It just f-felt... t-too good... and I want this to last as long as p-possible."

"Okay... Okay, I'll stop doing this...", Ruby whispered, but then added with a seductive smile, "...for now."

The crimsonette waited for a few seconds so Weiss could calm down a little (and to admire the cute noises she just had made), then she started to well and truly ride the heiress. As she moved up, the bump on her belly disappeared, only to pop up a second later as she slid down again. Ruby put her hands on Weiss' shoulders to steady herself as her movements got more vigorous. Soon, the younger girl lifted herself up far enough that only the tip of her girlfriend's dick remained inside her before she slammed herself back down.

The pants and moans that echoed through the room grew louder by the second and it was a miracle that nobody had noticed them yet. Or maybe they had been noticed, but nobody had interrupted them, because... well, based on the noises it was pretty obvious what was going on inside this room. Nevertheless, both girls were far beyond caring about this at the moment.

Weiss brought her hands to Ruby's hips, either to slow her down or to urge her to go faster... she didn't even know herself. All she knew was that she wanted to touch her girlfriend, to run her fingers over every inch of this gorgeous body bouncing on top of her. Everything started to become blurred as the pleasure messed with her vision. Despite how long she wanted this intimate moment to last, Weiss was only human. She knew she was getting close, but, considering her ragged breathing, so was Ruby.

A small nod from the crimson-haired girl confirmed that thought as she sped up her movements. Weiss simply nodded back and let her lover do as she pleased. There was no need for words, they knew exactly what the other one thought or felt. It was almost like they were inside each other's minds... as if their Auras had intertwined. The individuals Ruby and Weiss ceased to exist, only to be replaced with something else, something bigger, something celestial. Their souls had become one.

Weiss slowly lost her connection to reality. She had no idea that she was in a hospital bed anymore, or at Beacon... she wasn't even sure if she was still on Remnant.

But it didn't matter. Ruby was her world now...

Nothing else existed... just Ruby.

_And somehow she knew exactly that Ruby felt the same._

It all happened too fast for them to really understand what was going on. All the built-up tension suddenly _exploded_ like a thousand fireworks. It hit them like a bolt from the sky - and it hit Ruby first... but only by a second.

The pressure that was building up inside her stomach over the past few minutes (or was it hours?) suddenly became too much. The crimsonette knew what was about to happen, she had felt it before when she had been... exploring her body, thinking about Weiss. But now it felt like a million times more intense. Every fiber of her body felt like it was on fire as a mind-shattering orgasm rocked through her body. Unable to stay in an upright position, Ruby fell back onto Weiss, pulling her as close as possible and burying her head into the crook of the heiress' neck.

"Weiiiiissssss...", she hissed, somehow succeeding in keeping her voice down a bit and not crying out in pure ecstasy. Her inner walls contracted and squeezed the girthy member, giving it a treatment far out of this world, trying to milk every single drop of cum out of the heiress. And as if this wasn't already enough to finally push Weiss over the edge, then one thing did for sure.

The tip of her dick was pressed tightly against Ruby's cervix, but the pleasure that fried the crimsonette's brain at the moment was too overwhelming to let her feel the pain it caused this time. Unconsciously, she tried to push herself down further, but this time... she succeeded. Weiss felt the crimsonette's barrier slowly dilating, even if it probably didn't want to. The heiress' mind started to spin: That couldn't be happening! That was impossible! There was no way something that large could enter Ruby's most sacred place from the wrong side!

Then, suddenly, something incredibly tight gripped the tip of her dick, almost threatening to snap it off. She was inside Ruby's womb!

That was too much for her to handle. It had been already too much since Ruby's orgasm and the contractions of her inner walls, but now it was _way too much_. Weiss opened her mouth in a silent scream, somehow managing to choke out "Ru-" before her voice failed her completely. The stressed grunt Ruby croaked out as her cervix was penetrated barely reached the heiress' ear as she came harder than ever before. Every orgasm she had experienced before paled in comparison to this new sensation – Weiss wasn't even sure anymore if these had been real ones, now that she felt... THIS.

A huge spurt of scalding hot cum rushed through her cock, somehow managed to overcome the vice-like grip of the crimsonette's uterine orifice and shot straight into her womb. It erupted with enough force that it felt almost like a punch in the stomach. Ruby's body, still high on pleasure, responded on its own and immediately; her whole pussy, as well as her cervix, gripped and squeezed Weiss even tighter... if that was possible at all.

That finally broke the heiress completely. Her mind literally went blank and, overwhelmed with pleasure, Weiss passed out.

* * *

Ruby laid on top of her girlfriend for a while, panting heavily as she felt the last spurts of her girlfriend's cum enter her body. Her head was still swimming from the intense orgasm she just had experienced. Nothing, _truly_ nothing she had ever felt could compare to this.

"I love you...", she rasped and kissed Weiss' neck over and over again, "I love you so much..."

Ruby's breathing slowly returned to normal and all of her senses started to function properly again, yet, there still was a ringing in her ears. The smell of sweat and sex filled her nostrils, but it wasn't unpleasant. Quite the contrary, it was a proof of their love, their desire, a proof of what had happened was real. Ruby smiled at that thought and buried her head deeper into Weiss' neck, enjoying the warmth of her girlfriend's body. But this paled in comparison to the warmth of Weiss' essence inside of her... and there was a lot of it.

"Wow... that was... wow...", Ruby panted into her lover's ear, "I... wow... Was... was it as... as amazing for you... as it was... for me? ... Weiss?"

No response.

"Weiiiiiss...?", she repeated in a sing-song voice.

Still nothing. Just heavy breathing... and silence.

The crimsonette lifted herself up a bit to face her girlfriend. What she saw definitely answered her question and her smile grew even wider. The heiress just laid there limply, panting, drooling, one eye still half-lidded but slowly closing, and Ruby could barely make out the bottom of her icy blue iris.

"I'll take that as a yes.", Ruby quietly giggled to herself and snuggled up to Weiss as close as possible again. Their heartbeats slowly calmed down as well as their breathing, until they synced up perfectly. The crimsonette suddenly felt exhausted, so she pulled the blanket back up to cover her and Weiss.

"Sleep well, Snowflake...", she whispered as sleep slowly got a hold of her, "And... thank you. I love you." And with these three last words in mind, Ruby drifted off into the field of dreams as well.

* * *

The beeping of a Scroll woke them up the next morning. Weiss still felt a little drowsy, but actually pretty good, considering the fact that she had poisoned herself with an experimental medication just a few days ago. But why did she feel so good, so relaxed, so... relieved?

Her drowsy mind needed some time to process everything that had happened. There was a wet, sticky and still slightly warm puddle between her legs, sticking to the sheets and her inner thighs. The heiress wanted to shift her body, so she wouldn't have to lie in it anymore, but then she noticed a weight lying on top of her. And wasn't there something that tickled the side of her face?

Last night crashed into her mind in an instant. She and Ruby really had... Weiss turned her head to the left but only saw a mop of messy, black and red hair and a delicate arm that fumbled for a Scroll on the nightstand. A few seconds later the annoying beeping noise died down.

"Hey, Snowflake..."

A soft whisper, a turn of a head, a kiss on her cheek, a shift of the weight on top of her... and Weiss suddenly looked into a pair of silver eyes.

"Sorry about the alarm, but I thought it would be the best to wake up early, so nobody would find us... well, like this.", Ruby explained, "Not that I don't appreciate being this close to you." And to emphasize these words the crimsonette buried her face back in the crook of Weiss' neck and plastered it with a few soft kisses.

"Mmm... you taste so good...", she hummed as she suckled on the sweaty, yet somehow sweet skin of her girlfriend, "This beats cookies by a long shot."

"I can't believe we actually had... you know...", Weiss said sheepishly, "How the hell did things turn out like this?"

"Do you... do you regret what we've done?", Ruby asked and lifted herself up a bit, getting a little nervous now, "I'm sorry I was so pushy again. If... if you want this to be a one-time-thing I can understand."

"I don't regret a single thing.", Weiss whispered softly, hugged her girlfriend and gave her a kiss on the cheek as well, "What we've done... and being so close to you... everything, actually... feels just right. I'm glad we took this step."

"Me too.", Ruby whispered back and relaxed into the embrace. They laid there for a while and enjoyed each other's closeness, basking in the feeling of their mostly naked bodies being pressed together. The young couple was about to drift back to sleep, but another beeping sound of Ruby's Scroll prevented this.

"Oops... must've hit the snooze button.", the crimsonette explained with a yawn and silenced the device once more, "Waking up at seven in the morning on a Sunday clearly isn't my thing."

"Why do we have to wake up this early in the first place? Oh, right, so no one would find us like... wait a minute... when did you set this alarm?", Weiss asked, but then it hit her, "You... you've planned all of this, haven't you? This whole night and... everything that happened."

"Umm, yeah... kind of...", Ruby admitted sheepishly, "I... I told you I wanted to be intimate with you for a while now. And yesterday I thought it would help you to overcome your... issues... and be happy with yourself, so you won't take these pills anymore. I just... saw an opportunity to show you how I really felt... feel... and I wouldn't have done anything if you hadn't agreed. I hope you're not mad at me."

"Of course I'm not mad at you.", Weiss said softly, "After what we did last night, how could I be? It was amazing... _You_ are amazing."

"You are, too.", Ruby responded and gave the heiress a gentle peck on the lips, "I guess we should get up soon. The doctors are probably going to check on you in an hour or so."

The crimsonette rolled herself over and stood up. At the sight of Ruby's naked body, Weiss felt a twitch in her nether regions, but her penis still seemed to be satisfied enough to remain flaccid (with the help of a lot of self-control on the heiress' part, since Ruby's body was...). The heiress quickly shook her head to clear out any dirty thoughts.

"I'm going to clean myself up and get dressed.", Ruby said, "Yang and Blake have brought us some clean clothes yesterday since the doctors said you can be released today if your results are okay."

"That's a relief.", Weiss sighed, "I feel fine again and want to get out of here as soon as possible. I have a lot of bad memories of this place now..." The ruined date night, almost dying and letting other people know about her secret, to sum things up... But then another thought entered her mind and she added with a small smile: "...as well as a really wonderful one." That sentence made Ruby smile as well.

But as soon as Weiss threw the covers back, another thing was added to the _bad-memories-_ list since the messed up sheets immediately caught her eye. They were drenched with a little bit of blood and _a lot_ of... other bodily fluids, mostly... Weiss blushed furiously at the sight. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all.

"Umm... that's going to be hard to explain.", Ruby remarked as she saw it too.

"No shit, Captain Obvious!", Weiss exclaimed distressed, "What the hell are we going to tell the doctors? 'Sorry 'bout the sheets, pal, I just had a shag with my girlfriend'?"

"I guess that's one for the _maybe_ -pile.", Ruby joked as she tried to calm the heiress down (unsuccessfully), "Wait, I think I know what you tell them: You just woke up to this and have no idea. Umm... You... you think you had your period, that explains the blood, and also, after these drugs wore off, your penis probably... umm... sprung to life again and... all this pent-up stuff came out. Y'know, accidentally, in your sleep. I mean, this thing was created by experimental Dust, so no one knows exactly how it works, right?"

Weiss thought Ruby's idea over. It sounded a little stupid, but maybe it really was best to just play dumb on that score: She had no idea how her penis worked, just woke up to this and tried to come up with an explanation herself – and the more _probablies_ she would use in this explanation, the better.

"I... guess... that might work.", the heiress finally admitted and blushed a little as she thought to herself, 'Not the first time I'd have a wet dream...'

"Anyway, I'm off to the bathroom.", Ruby said and picked up the clothes Blake and her sister had brought them yesterday, "See you in a bit." Then she left for the little washroom.

Weiss' eyes followed her every movement, mesmerized by Ruby's still naked form. But this time she didn't feel embarrassment, or nervousness, not in the slightest. She only felt calmness, insight and... happiness (and maybe a tint of arousal). This body belonged to her... as well as the heart beating inside of it... as well as she belonged to Ruby now... completely.

'We really had sex last night... real sex... with my... inside Ruby's...', the heiress thought, still overwhelmed by the whole scenario, 'We had sex and Ruby wasn't disgusted with me. She loved it... and I did, too. It was the most wonderful experience in my life. Maybe my... penis... does make me somewhat... weird, but... if an amazing girl like Ruby can accept this... maybe... yeah, maybe... maybe I can accept myself too...'

* * *

As predicted by Ruby, the doctors made their ward round at about eight in the morning. The crimsonette was told to leave for the time of Weiss' medical examination. The check-up proved that the heiress was totally fine now – no toxins left in her blood and her Aura had fixed every other damage. When Weiss told the doctor the lie Ruby came up with, she was about to die from embarrassment, but the physician seemed to buy it and told her that this was only natural. He made a few notes on his clipboard, lectured the white-haired girl about the dangers of taking an experimental medicine and told her she could be released if she wanted to as long as she would make sure to get some more rest. Weiss, of course, accepted this offer.

When the heiress exited her patient's room, Ruby waited by the door like a puppy being told to stay.

"So, what did he say?", the crimsonette asked.

"My results are okay and I'm good to go.", Weiss told her girlfriend and added with a smile, "He also gave me some kind of scolding for taking these meds, but it wasn't nearly as impressive as yours."

"You better keep your promise from yesterday and don't take these pills anymore.", Ruby said with a stern expression, "Or you will get another scolding that will make my first one sound like sweet talk."

"Don't worry, the doctors threw away everything.", Weiss reassured, "And even if they didn't, I would've done it myself. I've learned my lesson. And I would never break my promise to you." To give emphasis to her words she pulled her girlfriend close and gave her a soft kiss, and Ruby felt that her lips didn't speak anything but honesty.

"I'm glad to hear that.", the crimsonette replied after they pulled away, and then she added with a suggestive smile, "If you need some help to relieve a little... stress... feel free to ask me instead."

"Ruby!", Weiss hissed and blushed furiously. She looked around to check if anyone could eavesdrop on them, but, fortunately, the corridor was empty. "Could you please don't say anything like that in public?"

"Says the girl who nailed me in a hospital bed just a few hours ago.", Ruby responded with a shit-eating grin.

"I'm pretty sure it was the other way around.", Weiss corrected and rolled her eyes at Ruby's choice of words, "You were the one who... well, took the initiative."

"But you're the one with the _nail_.", the crimsonette said and gave her girlfriend her best _Got-it?_ -expression.

"Don't spend any time with your sister anymore.", the heiress stated dryly.

"She's not _that_ bad...", Ruby defended the blonde, "And I'm not, either..."

"I have my doubts about the first part...", Weiss said with a chuckle and added softly, "But I may agree with the second one."

Without hesitation, she pulled Ruby into yet another kiss, but this time she didn't care if anyone was watching. Weiss pulled her closer and prodded her girlfriend's lips with her tongue, only for them to open to let the slippery appendage explore her mouth again. But the crimsonette wasn't idle herself. As soon as she felt Weiss' tongue entering her mouth, her own darted out to meet hers, slipped past it and invaded the sweet-tasting oral cavity the heiress offered to her so willingly. They made out for about half a minute before they snapped back to reality and broke the kiss.

"Well, umm... how about we go back to the dorm room?", Ruby suggested, "I'm still pretty tired and could use another nap. Aaand I'm starving. Maybe we could grab a bite to eat on our way?"

"Sounds good to me.", Weiss agreed and yawned, "The doctors told me to get some more rest so my Aura could regenerate. And I'm pretty hungry as well."

"Then that's settled.", the crimsonette chirped, "But we have to be quiet in the dorm room. Yang and Blake are probably still asleep and you don't want to wake up Yang early on a Sunday."

"I know... I remember the last time that had happened well enough. By the way, that hadn't been my fault... umm... entirely...", the white-haired girl said, "Anyway, I just hope your sister will leave us alone this time when she sees me snuggled up to you in my... our bunk. I mean, the threats are getting less, but the teasing's getting worse and worse."

"That means she accepts our relationship. Teasing is kind of her way to give us her blessing.", Ruby responded with a grin, "And... as long as we don't do what we did yesterday again, I think we'll be fine."

"Yeah... The next time we do something like this, we definitely need a little more privacy.", Weiss said, deep in thought.

" _Next time?_ ", Ruby said and her grin grew wider, "So it seems that you liked what we did and that you are finally... comfortable... around me?"

'Or inside me...', she added in thought and started to blush a bit as soon as it crossed her mind.

But Weiss seemed to read her thoughts and, blushing equally but still smiling, she asked back: "Wasn't that this obvious?"

"We'll think of something to get this privacy you want. I'm definitely in for an... encore.", Ruby chirped and softly kissed her girlfriend on the cheek before they made their way out of the medical ward and to the dorms, "Oh, and by the way, you owe me a pair of high heels."

"What?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's that... Whew...
> 
> Sorry for the delay. I had some issues with my laptop and I'm not very fond of writing on my phone, so I kind of waited until it was fixed. I originally planned to take a little more time with this chapter (I rewrote a lot of passages a few times since it's one of the most important chapters so far), but I didn't intend to take THIS long.
> 
> Anyway, first smut I've ever written (well, published, to be more precise), so let me know what you think about it. It was about time that Ruby and Weiss finally took this step in their relationship, and I hope I wrote the 'magical moment' you all were hoping for. I know that it's probably far from perfect, but I promise to improve my skills in, well, writing something like that. Now that our favorite dolts are comfortable with each other I guess we can expect some more 'quality-time' scenes in the future, probably a little more... kinkier than this pretty tame first time.
> 
> BUT: There's still a lot of story left to be told. This relationship is still mostly a secret, so what will happen if it becomes public? What will Weiss' family think about it? Also, now Ruby and Weiss have another secret, how to tell their teammates about their new intimacy? And what about the mission? Besides their relationship, our young couple still has to attend to their duty as Huntresses(-in-training).
> 
> I hope you REALLY enjoyed this chapter, so I can tell myself the long wait was worth it and guilt doesn't swallow me whole. Leave a comment and stay tuned for the next one. I hope I can finish it in less than four weeks this time ;-).
> 
> See ya next chapter!  
> LCS


	17. Decisions

Originally, Glynda Goodwitch wanted to postpone Ruby's and Weiss' mission after she had heard that the heiress had been hospitalized on Friday. She also tried to find out why that had been the case, but the doctors stuck to their medical secrecy. They just told the blonde professor that there had been some minor issues that were taken care of and it was up to the patient, a person of legal age, to decide whether or not she wanted to participate in the academy's activities again.

Of course, they had also told Weiss that she should rest for a while and take her time to recover fully, but, as stubborn as the white-haired girl was, she didn't want her academic career to suffer from her own stupidity – and, of course, she also didn't want to let Ruby down. After the toxins had been washed out of her body she had never felt better in her entire life.

Okay, maybe that had to do something with another activity that helped her recover, too... but she obviously couldn't mention _this_.

Professor Goodwitch, however, wasn't quite sure if it was a good idea to let the R and W of team RWBY go on a mission after one of them had been released from the medical ward just a day ago. Therefore, after a few messages, she let both girls come to her office for a consultation, so they could explain themselves, but mostly to talk them out of it.

* * *

"I'm telling you, professor, I'm totally fine.", Weiss said for the umpteenth time and she started to get annoyed.

What had begun as a normal conversation, had soon degenerated into a heated argument. Ruby and Weiss (mostly Weiss) tried to convince their teacher that they were good to go. To Glynda, it just seemed that they didn't realize that this was a dangerous thing to do: To go on a mission that soon after being released from the hospital. And since the blonde professor had little to no information on the cause of the white-haired girl's hospitalization, she couldn't stress this enough. Was Weiss really okay? Was she just trying to appear tough? What if something bad would happen on the mission because she wasn't in her best shape?

"You were in the medical ward for the last two days, Miss Schnee.", Professor Goodwitch responded as she slowly lost her patience as well, "And these files I got from the doctors gave me no clear information about your medical condition, to say at least."

She grabbed the clipboard that was lying on her desk and browsed the few pages once more. They only held vague information about some kind of intoxication, gastritis, and some minor pulmonary complications. It was also stated that her results showed no signs of any remaining damage, but still...

"This record neither specifies this intoxication the doctors wrote about, nor what caused it, but I guess it was the main reason for your hospitalization.", the professor continued, "I know that medical secrecy is an important thing, but I can't let you participate in the academy's activities again without being absolutely sure you can cope with it. Is there anything else you can tell me about, so I can assess the situation properly? Otherwise, I cannot let you depart on your mission until next week or so, after a few stress tests."

"Please, Professor.", Weiss requested, "Regular classes start again next week. We have to go on this mission tomorrow or we're gonna miss a lot of educational material."

"Yeah... what Weiss said.", Ruby agreed, mostly because she hadn't said anything in a while. She wasn't really that fond of classes, but she wanted to support her girlfriend. And, of course, she wanted to go on this mission to prove herself.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do this until you tell me more about this intoxication.", Professor Goodwitch said after browsing the record again, "It's stated that you were in a restaurant in Vale when all of this had happened. Is this somehow related to your case?"

"Well, umm... maybe a little, I guess...", Weiss mumbled sheepishly.

"Miss Schnee, if you are unable to give me clear information about this, for whatever reason, I have no choice but to postpone your mission for a week or two until I'm sure you have recovered completely.", the blonde teacher said sternly and adjusted her glasses.

Ruby and Weiss exchanged a look. Ruby's probably meant something like "Tell her already.", but Weiss hesitated. How could she tell Professor Goodwitch about that: about her medication and why she took it... because of her secret. But then she reconsidered. If she didn't tell the professor, Ruby would miss this very important mission as well and a lot of classes afterwards. It would make her dream to become a Huntress a lot harder. And hadn't the heiress' been selfish enough already? She took a deep breath.

"The intoxication was caused by a medication I took.", Weiss finally explained, "It has been my own fault that it happened."

"What kind of medication would cause something like that?", the blonde teacher asked confused, "And where did you get it anyway? There is no record of you requesting anything from the medical ward over the last month."

"I got it from Atlas and picked it up at Vale's Central Pharmacy.", the heiress continued, "It wasn't something you could buy or get anywhere because it was still... kind of... experimental." There suddenly was a minute of silence so Glynda could digest this information.

"You took some kind of experimental drugs even though you knew what they could do to your body?!", Professor Goodwitch then asked in a mixture of shock and displeasure, "I'm... really disappointed in you, Miss Schnee. How could you act so irresponsibly, you, out of all people?"

Weiss only hung her head in response. She knew how stupid this had been already. The doctors had told her as well. Ruby, too. But now that the heiress had told all of this, maybe the professor would finally let them go on this mission. Hopefully, she didn't ask why she...

"And why would you take something like this, even though you knew the consequences, Miss Schnee?"

The heiress' eyes went wide. This was the only question every fiber of her being didn't want to answer. But it seemed that she had no choice.

"I took it because... because of a... very personal problem of mine.", Weiss slowly answered and panic started to get a hold of her. 'Please don't ask, please don't ask, please don't ask. I _can't_ tell you. I really just _can't_. Please have mercy.'

"And what kind of personal problem are you referring to?", Professor Goodwitch asked, but she was met with silence, "Miss Schnee, be reasonable. I can't give you and Miss Rose the green light if I don't know about any medical issues that may affect this mission."

Weiss' body started to tremble. She knew she had to tell her. But she had never told anyone besides Ruby. And the crimsonette had been her best friend (and love interest) at that time. Professor Goodwitch might have been her teacher over the past year, but she still was basically a stranger.

Suddenly, the heiress felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to her left and saw Ruby's gentle smile. This time, the crimsonette had a look on her face that somehow said: "It's okay. You don't have to tell her." However, this simple gesture gave Weiss the confidence to do otherwise. Whatever would happen if she told anyone, Ruby would still be there. Ruby wouldn't abandon her. That was all that mattered. So she faced Professor Goodwitch again.

"Well... y-you see...", the heiress started stammering.

* * *

"As far as I know, personal problems are called that way because they're pretty... personal.", a voice suddenly echoed through the room, "Something we are comfortable telling relatives or close friends about, not mere acquaintances like our teachers."

Glynda, Ruby, and Weiss turned to the left to find the source of this voice. In the door frame stood Professor Ozpin, leaning on his cane and taking a sip from his ever-present coffee mug.

"Professor Ozpin, with all due respect, but...", the blonde teacher began but was interrupted immediately.

"You can clearly tell that Miss Schnee is uncomfortable talking about this subject.", the headmaster continued, "I assume there was a reason our doctors put that little information into her files. But they're responsible enough to provide us with enough knowledge to make the right decisions about our students."

"You can't be serious!", Glynda exclaimed because she knew exactly what Ozpin was up to, "This girl had been in the medical ward for the last two days and now you want to let her go on a dangerous mission without fully knowing the reasons for this hospitalization... just because she says she is fine again?"

"It is stated in these files that, and I quote, 'the patient, Schnee, Weiss, eighteen years old, is free to decide whether or not to participate in the academy's activities again'. So this really isn't up to us at this point. Miss Schnee, a person of legal age, already made her decision. And making those decisions is part of becoming a Huntress... as well as becoming an adult. We should respect that.", Professor Ozpin explained calmly, then he added with a small grin, "Also, knowing Miss Rose here, she probably has some kind of backup plan already to get them to their destination even if we don't allow them to participate in this mission."

"We mail ourselves there.", Ruby whispered to Weiss, "This time it's gonna work."

"However...", Ozpin continued, "I highly doubt we have to let it come to that. Miss Schnee is a smart young woman. She had always achieved excellent results, academically and out in the field. Her team is one of the best in her year and never disappointed us in the past, despite being assigned to tasks far more difficult than anything freshmen should be up against. If she is absolutely certain that she is capable of handling this mission, then we should trust her judgment."

He then inspected both girls closely, his gaze had something uninterpretable to it. Was it something admonishing, or maybe something challenging? Ruby and Weiss didn't know, but they definitely knew what they wanted to do.

"We don't want this mission to be postponed.", Weiss finally said, facing Professor Goodwitch again, "We trained hard and prepared ourselves well. We can do this. I'm in top shape again, so there's nothing you need to worry about."

There was a long pause, until...

"I guess it can't be helped.", Glynda sighed a little annoyed and pinched the bridge of her nose above her glasses, "Fine, you two. You can go on your mission tomorrow. But I _really_ hope you know what you're doing." She gave the headmaster one final, somewhat reproachful look, then she finished: "That's all for now. You may leave."

* * *

After they were back outside Glynda's office, Ruby and Weiss turned to Professor Ozpin and said in unison: "Thanks for supporting us, Professor."

"Don't mention it.", Ozpin waved it off, "It's the least I can do. My reasons may be a little selfish, but I really like how the two of you have grown over the past year, and I want this to continue:

Weiss Schnee, always solitary, thinking that she was better than everyone else... now asking for help and relying on her team to score the best results. Trusting people, making friends, taking companionship seriously, one of the most important things about being a Huntress.

Ruby Rose, ambitious, yet too impulsive... now calculating a situation and trying to make the best decision to protect her team, even including herself now. You've matured faster than I thought you would and became, without any doubt, a reliable leader, someone other people can look up to.

I'm certain you two are on the best way to be great Huntresses once you've graduated."

Ruby and Weiss now had beaming smiles on their faces, Ruby's obviously more noticeable than the heiress'. But even the white-haired girl couldn't help but be overly happy after they got so much praise from the headmaster. It was now that both girls realized how much they unknowingly had influenced each other over the past year, so they could come this far. The couple exchanged a quick, proud glance before facing Ozpin again.

Suddenly, the headmaster got serious: "But remember: This mission is going to be incredibly dangerous. There was a reason that the academic staff decided to split these missions into smaller fragments, each one completed by a pair of two over the past weeks, so we could gather as much information as possible. I am well aware of the fact that you have faced great dangers before, and you always did superbly. But this time, it'll be only the two of you. You can solely rely on your partner and the information gathered by your fellow students over the last three weeks. So..."

He made a pause, probably to emphasize his next words, before he finished: "...if you have _any_ doubts about this, maybe because you still think you need some time to recover, or for whatever other reason, you should tell me now and we'll postpone your mission for a week or two. No one is going to judge you and there's no shame in waiting until you truly feel ready, given the circumstances."

Ruby and Weiss exchanged another look. The crimsonette was still a little worried about her girlfriend, but she knew Weiss didn't want to back down. Ruby herself didn't want to, either. They had a responsibility to her fellow students, to the Academy, and to the people they had to protect. The look the white-haired girl gave her in return confirmed every thought of the crimsonette.

"We're ready.", Ruby said and faced the headmaster again, "We're going on this mission tomorrow like we were intended to."

"I second that.", Weiss added, "There's no way we're going to let our fellow students down. They worked hard and risked their lives to give us this opportunity, and if we'd wait a week the information they had gathered may go to waste. And we won't let this happen."

"Very well...", Ozpin nodded and took another sip from his mug, "You'll depart tomorrow at six o'clock. Your destination is a coastal town in the far north of Sanus, near the island of Vytal. You'll get briefed on your way. Make the last preparations and get a good night's sleep. And, of course, be careful out in the field. Good luck." With these words, he took his leave.

"Thanks again, Professor!", Ruby cat-called, "I promise, we won't let you down."

"I'll take you up on that, Miss Rose.", the gray-haired professor said as he turned around again, but then, without warning, he added, "Oh, and by the way... Congratulations. You two really make a cute couple." He chuckled a bit, then he continued to walk away.

* * *

Ruby and Weiss were dumbfounded. How did he...? Both girls exchanged a confused look, unable to say anything for a few moments as they tried to digest this sudden remark.

"Do you have any idea how he figured out that we're a couple?", the heiress asked, whispering the last part.

"Beats me.", Ruby said with a shrug, "We didn't do anything suspicious, did we?"

"Not to my knowledge.", Weiss responded, "We almost exclusively kissed in the dorm room, and on the rare occasions we exchanged affections in the corridors we always made sure no one saw us."

"Maybe there are hidden cameras in the dorm.", the crimsonette suggested.

"Don't be ridiculous.", Weiss interposed.

"Or maybe at the medical ward!", Ruby exclaimed, "I mean... if so, then some security guy has a tape with real quality porn now. Hey, maybe we should ask for a copy. Some kind of... _memento_." Then she gave the white-haired girl a suggestive grin.

"Ruby!", the heiress yelled and a blush as red as her girlfriend's cape appeared on her face.

"Just kidding.", Ruby giggled, "I don't think there are any cameras. Maybe Professor Ozpin's just a really good judge of character. I mean, he did let me go to Beacon two years early because he knew how awesome I'd turn out." On the last part, the heiress just rolled her eyes.

"I'd like to prove you wrong, but...", Weiss began and smiled softly, "I can't think of anything to the contrary."

"Maybe it's just because I got myself a pretty awesome partner.", Ruby noted and leaned in for a kiss.

"That must be it.", Weiss whispered back tenderly and closed the gap between them.

All the heiress was looking for was a soft kiss to top the sweet moment they just had shared. But Ruby seemed to have other plans. As soon as their lips met, the crimsonette pulled her girlfriend close and deepened the kiss. A tongue brushed gently over Weiss' lips and the white-haired girl immediately granted it entrance. She knew they were still standing in the middle of a corridor, just a few feet away from the door to Professor Goodwitch's office, but somehow, the heiress didn't care. Quite the contrary actually, it excited her, doing something like this out in the open, with the chance of being caught any second, even if this would probably have terrible consequences. Ruby seemed to feel the same way as her actions became even bolder.

The crimsonette's hands started to roam over her girlfriend's body while she tried to force her tongue even deeper into her mouth. A moan slipped from Weiss' throat as she resisted the urge to push Ruby against the next wall, to touch her too, to dominate her, to... A twitch in her crotch suddenly brought her back to reality. And as soon as she felt Ruby's hand grabbing her butt firmly, the heiress pulled away. What the hell just happened?

"A-anyway, I g-guess we should check on our equipment one last time.", Weiss suggested as she tried to change the subject and to distract herself from the growing heat in her crotch, "L-luckily, we've gotten everything we need on T-thursday already."

"Y-yup!", Ruby seconded, still breathing a little uneven and a heavy blush covered her face, "You're right. B-better safe than sorry. Tomorrow's a big day for us."

* * *

The roaring engines of the ancient Bullhead they were currently sitting in made it impossible for Weiss to get another snatch of sleep. Despite going to bed early yesterday she didn't feel as refreshed as she had hoped for. Ruby, however, seemed to be able to block the small airship's deafening noises out and had fallen asleep, her head resting on the heiress' shoulder. Weiss didn't mind this one bit (Ruby looked adorable in her sleep, after all) as long as the crimsonette didn't start to drool on her outfit, that is.

'Not that there should be much saliva left...', the white-haired girl thought with a small smile. After they had made sure that their equipment was complete, the two girls had spent the rest of Sunday cuddling and making out in the dorm room. After all, they wouldn't have much time to do things like this as long as they were on their mission.

But the ear-piercing sound of the airship's engines wasn't the only thing that denied Weiss her much needed rest. There was another reason, the same one had kept her awake last night: She was nervous. What if Professor Goodwitch had been right and she should've gotten a little more rest before going on this mission? The doctors had also told her to wait, even if it was ultimately up to her what to do. Okay, she _did_ feel fine, but maybe she really wasn't at her best yet. There had been no real time to test this, either. After taking their nap, arguing with the blonde professor and double-checking their equipment it had been evening already, a little late for a sparring match or the like.

The sweet scent of childish strawberry shampoo and a sleepy mumble that sounded a lot like "Cookies..." calmed Weiss down a bit. Whatever was going to happen, Ruby would be there. As long as they had each other, everything would be just fine.

"Hey, ladies. This is your captain speaking.", a voice from a speaker echoed through the small cabin, even though it was almost inaudible because of the engine noises, "We are about to reach our destination. Please get ready and thanks for flying Air _Crappy Old Atlesian Airship_."

"Huh? Are we there yet?", Ruby asked drowsily as she was woken up by the announcement.

"Yeah, we are about to arrive in a few.", Weiss explained, "The pilot just told us to gather our stuff."

"Five more minutes...", the crimsonette sighed and buried her head back in the crook of her girlfriend's neck.

"Get up already, my adorable dolt.", the heiress said and pulled Ruby up by the chin to give her a soft peck on the lips, "No more dilly-dallying. We have a mission to complete."

"Fine...", Ruby pouted, but then she looked out of the window and was her usual, energetic self again, "Weiss! Look! We can see the town from up here."

When the white-haired girl saw the village on the edge of a cliff, her face dropped immediately. It seemed to be a rundown, little fishing hamlet: old, crappy buildings, barely any paved roads and around it only wilderness for miles. So this place would be her home for the next week.

"Lovely...", the heiress sighed sarcastically.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! LCS, at it again.
> 
> Ruby and Weiss are finally going on their mission. Let's all hope the white-haired girl really is alright again or bad things are probably going to happen... But then again, she said she's feeling fine.
> 
> Looks like I'm back to my original update schedule... Pleeease don't expect me to keep this up, okay. I just had a little more free time this week.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, even if it was a little more boring than the last few. See you next time.


	18. Just a Kiss

The landing was rather rough due to the Bullhead's old age. The airship that originally had been assigned to Ruby's and Weiss' mission was performing another task now since it had been said that their departure was postponed. Therefore, they had to take a substitute flight but, unfortunately, the only other airship available had been this shitbox, because a lot of students were leaving for missions this morning. Okay, it didn't provide any safety risks, but it was loud, the interior was pretty outworn and it looked banged up in general... and, honestly, you'd expect a little more from one of the most prestigious academies in all of Remnant.

Ruby and Weiss exited the airship, thanked their pilot one last time and entered the small town named Nave, as they had been told in the briefing. Now that they were on the ground again, the village didn't look as shabby as assumed at first sight. The buildings were pretty old but well-preserved. There were a few stores, a blacksmith, a small doctor's office and an inn, where the academy had already booked them a room for the week when they weren't out in the field. And while Ruby was fascinated by her new surroundings, Weiss still had... well... mixed feelings about this whole situation.

"So... what now?", the heiress turned to her leader, "Who's gonna fill us in on the details of what's going on in this hicksville?"

"They told us to meet up with the chief of the town watch.", the crimsonette replied as she and Weiss stood a little lost on the town square, "But we have to look for a guardhouse or something since I have no idea who this guy is."

"That'd be me.", a gravelly voice suddenly addressed them.

Both girls turned around and saw a tall man approaching them. He had dark gray eyes, spiky, pitch-black hair, and a goatee. A scar split his right eyebrow, another one marred his bottom lip. The man wore a shabby black coat over a white shirt, black, baggy pants and heavy boots. Since he was pretty buff it was difficult to guess his age, maybe something between thirty and forty. A coarse sword dangled on one side of his belt, and on the other one hung a heavy pistol in a holster.

"Ya must be the Huntresses from Beacon, eh?", he said and inspected the girls carefully, "Huh... You're probably the 'Don't judge a book by its cover'-type. I mean, ya better be, 'cause it's one hell of a job you have to do."

"I assure you that we are perfectly capable of whatever kind of job this is.", Weiss told him confidently, a little bit annoyed by the implied insult.

"Yeah!", Ruby added enthusiastically, "Whatever it is you need us to do, investigate, kill or anything else, we're your guy... guys... gals... you, umm, get the idea."

"That's exactly what I wanna hear, ladies!", the tall man responded in a comradely tone, laughed throatily and offered a handshake, "Name's Ash, captain of the city guard. And you are?"

Both girls shook his rough hand and introduced themselves politely. The captain gave them a nod and a small grin, then, with a tilt of his head, he requested them to follow him.

* * *

The raven-haired man offered them a quick tour through the town. He showed them some of the stores where they could stock up on ammo and provisions if needed, the blacksmith to maintain their weapons if they got damaged and the small inn where the girls deposited their bags. Even Weiss had to agree now that this village wasn't that bad – maybe a little outdated, but otherwise kind of charming.

"So... Ruby, Weiss..", Ash said as they walked down the main road, "Not gonna lie to you, what we have to deal with's probably a lot more dangerous than anythin' else you've seen or heard about. To keep this brief, we encountered some new kinds o' Grimm. No real new species, but these things are... different."

"In what way... different?", the heiress asked curiously.

"Well, ya see...", the raven-haired man began but was quickly interrupted by the sound of a bell. Soon, everything in the small town got hectic. And while most of the people quickly made their way into the buildings, a few others started to rush to the edge of town.

"To the palisade!", someone in leather armor yelled, "They're coming from the south-east!"

"These bastards hadn't shown up for three days... So much for some peace 'n quiet.", Ash stated dryly and cracked his neck, then he turned to Ruby and Weiss, "Well, guess experience's the best teacher. Get movin', kids! These things ain't waitin' for nothin'!" With these words, he dashed to the aforementioned gate. Both girls followed suit.

As soon as the Grimm came into sight, the two young Huntresses immediately noticed that they were somewhat odd. They looked like regular Creeps, but instead of their usual, pitch-black skin, it seemed that something purple ran through some kind of vessels underneath, almost like blood. Ruby and Weiss were well aware of the fact that these creatures weren't normal Grimm, so they knew they had to be careful as they drew their weapons. Ash, however, handled the situation a little differently.

"This is where the fun begins!", the black-haired man roared in his gravelly voice and drew his sword as they approached these weird creatures. In the corner of her eye, Ruby caught a better look at it. It seemed almost like an ordinary sword, but there was some kind of gear shift at the hilt, similar to that of Yang's motorcycle. The crimsonette wondered what it would do. Her inner weapon dork trembled in anticipation, and, just before they made contact with the Grimm, wasn't disappointed.

As soon as the captain pulled the gear shift, an engine almost as loud as the one of their old airship started to howl. Mere seconds later the blade was sprayed with a flammable propellant and ignited immediately. And with this blazing weapon, Ash threw himself into the fray.

* * *

A kick of the black-haired captain threw a Creep off a struggling city guard member and the burning sword drove it away further. After that, Ash drew his heavy pistol and shot another one a few feet away right in the head. Then, something odd happened: Instead of evaporating, the Creep exploded into a burst of purple mist, or liquid, or something like that... Ruby and Weiss didn't know exactly but immediately came to a halt.

"Yeah, avoid any contact with this stuff. Leaves some nasty burns.", Ash growled, sliced an approaching Creep in half and rolled himself out of the spray zone just in time, "These things can fuck ya up real bad, even in death."

The girls didn't need to be told twice. Ruby immediately changed her style of combat, relying more on Crescent Rose's ranged abilities or using her Semblance to dash out of the way after she slew one of the Creeps. Weiss positioned her glyphs more precise to protect herself and others from the weird acid as she and her partner sliced their way through the horde of Grimm.

Despite looking and behaving mostly like regular Creeps (with one, big exception, of course), these creatures fought significantly more aggressive and far more coordinated. The two young Huntresses knew that not all Grimm were completely mindless, but it seemed almost like their opponents planned every attack, somehow communicating with each other and following some weird kind of battle strategy. Everytime Ruby and Weiss were distracted by an acid explosion and tried to dodge out of the way, there already was another Creep waiting for them at their destination.

But even though these opponents were unknown to them, both girls were still well-trained fighters. After the initial shock was over they quickly adapted to this new type of enemy. Ruby wielded her scythe with amazing dexterity and precision, and Weiss struck fast and deadly while making excellent use of her glyphs and Dust arsenal. Somehow, the crimsonette and her partner worked better than ever together this time.

The pack of Creeps had been huge as the fight had started and after every batch that was killed there soon came another one to replace the fallen creatures. But the city guard and their captain worked pretty efficiently, and with the help of the two young Huntresses, the Grimm's numbers began to dwindle after a while. Then, finally, after about thirty minutes of constant fighting, the last ones were slain, and their final painful wails along with the splashing of acid slowly faded away.

* * *

"Whew... and that's that.", Ash sighed as he extinguished his sword and returned it to its sheath. He looked around and was relieved that they didn't suffer any casualties. Admittedly, they were used to fight these things by now, but again, there was no guarantee of everything going this smooth all the time. After he had made sure that his men were alright, he turned around to face the two Huntresses-in-training.

"Well, I guess ya really are the 'Don't judge a book by its cover'-type.", the black-haired man addressed both girls, "That was pretty amazin'. If this wasn't just luck but your real talent, you're probably the right ones for the task at hand."

Ruby's eyes lit up after that praise. She was always eager to prove herself and after hearing something like this from such an experienced fighter, she was ecstatic. Her feelings were too much to handle for one person alone – she knew she had to share them. Therefore, she did something inconsiderate...

"We did it, Weiss!", she chirped, holstered her scythe and threw herself at her girlfriend. The heiress wasn't averse to something like that but, unfortunately, in her transport of joy, the crimsonette went one step further.

Weiss was flabberghasted as she suddenly felt a pair of soft, sweet lips on her own. This couldn't be happening! Ruby was kissing her... and everyone here was watching! She was a Schnee. She was the heiress of the SDC, one of the largest and most renowned producers and exporters of Dust in the world. And now, a commoner... even worse, a _girl_ was kissing her out in the open, with at least a dozen witnesses. And, knowing her father, if someone outside of this town, someone with ties to the media, would get wind of this because one of the citizens here spilled something, their relationship was in danger. And to top that...

Her nervousness caused some other kind of reaction. Something far worse, if not _the_ worst. A slight, yet well-known twitch in her panties suddenly amplified her worries, turning them into a full-grown panic attack. She had to stop this immediately – and in her state, she didn't care about how to do so anymore.

"G-get away from me, you dolt!", Weiss shrieked and impulsively pushed Ruby away, forcefully enough that it caused the younger girl to fall over and sent her landing on her butt. The crimsonette let out a loud "Ow!" and looked up at her girlfriend, a dumbfounded expression on her face. Dumbfounded... and hurt. It was now that Weiss realized what she had done – and she was horrified by her actions. Even worse: now everybody's eyes were on her! Weiss couldn't hear what the other people were mumbling and she didn't know what they were thinking at the moment, but she expected the worst. And then there was Ruby who still sat in the dirt and looked like a kicked puppy. Too shocked, and therefore unable to cope with the situation she just put herself into, the white-haired girl just turned away and ran off. The mumbling got quieter, the looks felt less penetrating, still, she didn't feel any better. Quite the contrary. But she didn't look back. She couldn't.

Tears started to form in her eyes as she made her way through the village. She had done it again... She had driven Ruby off once more. Weiss tried to persuade herself that she had to do this to protect their relationship, but it started to sound dumber and dumber. She knew it was impossible to keep it a secret forever, and all of her acts to _protect_ it did the exact opposite: they destroyed it, little by little.

How many times would the crimsonette cope with this? How many times was she willing to come back to her? How much pain could Ruby's heart endure, before...

'Maybe I have overplayed my hand this time already.', Weiss thought, full of self-loathing, 'Maybe I just can't be enough of a human being to have a relationship. And maybe now I just have to accept the inevitable. Somewhere deep inside I always knew it would happen sooner or later... probably soon... or it had already... Why did I think it would go any different in the first place? Why did I think I could be happy for a change?'

She wanted to turn around again, to go back to Ruby and apologize to her, telling her it was an impulsive reaction that had nothing to do with her feelings for the crimsonette. She wanted to make it up to Ruby somehow. She wanted to kiss Ruby's pain away and wanted Ruby to do the same. She wanted to hug her, and Ruby had to hug her back – tight enough that all of Weiss' broken pieces would stick back together. Yet, the heiress couldn't bring herself to go back, as if her mind had lost control over her body.

Weiss turned right towards the cliffside to avoid the town square. The bell rang again, probably so the citizens knew that the danger was over... and the white-haired girl didn't want anyone to see her cry.

* * *

Ruby looked after her girlfriend, still sitting on the ground and unable to process everything that had happened. Her silver eyes followed Weiss' every movement until the heiress turned right and disappeared behind a building. Why would she do something like that? Ruby was confused.

But then it hit her. How could she be so stupid? She knew Weiss was utterly uncomfortable with the exchange of affections in public. It didn't matter that they were somewhere on the edge of Vale, where nobody knew or cared about them. They probably _knew Weiss_. She was the heiress of the SDC, after all! She had to uphold her reputation as such. And now some little girl had kissed her... on the lips, on top of that! Ruby wanted to hit herself. She had to come up with an apology, and that better be a good one. The deep voice of the guard captain shook her out of her thoughts.

"Oh boy, that didn't go so well.", he said and rubbed the back of his head, "You guys on the rocks or somethin'?"

"What? No! Of course not!", Ruby said hastily since Ash's words implied that she and Weiss were dating, "We're not... I mean... well..." Then she hung her head in defeat and finished: "It's complicated."

"One-sided crush, eh?", Ash asked and raised his scarred eyebrow.

'Almost feels like it sometimes...', Ruby caught herself thinking but tried to push that depressing thought out of her mind. They loved each other. They were a couple. A few days ago they even had... Weiss would forgive her sooner or later, she was sure of that.

"No, nothing like that.", the crimsonette explained, but it stung her heart to deny her relationship with the heiress, "It's just... I'm... I'm doing really awkward stuff sometimes. I'm a pretty... expressive person, I think... so I often cross a lot of boundaries I shouldn't... I don't know. I guess I'm probably a no-good leader if I'm not good with people, even my teammates, huh?"

"I know how you feel, kid.", Ash replied, "I'm not good with most people either. Never was. Made my time at Beacon pretty difficult." He chuckled a bit while he scratched his beard, gazing into space for a few seconds and remembering his youth.

"Wait... you're a Huntsman?", Ruby asked dumbfounded.

" _Was_ a Huntsman.", the black-haired man corrected, "Now I'm just a guard captain. Ya see, someday you're just too old to go on missions all by yourself anymore, and I was never good at teaching or stuff like that. Never wanted to, either. So I just... kind of retired."

"Too old?", Ruby's confusion only grew.

"I'm fifty-four, shorty.", Ash explained and burst into roaring laughter, "What? Do I really look that well-preserved?"

Ruby inspected the buff man once more and only nodded, still astonished by the fact that this hunk of a man was in his mid-fifties. If she would exchange this goatee with a soul patch and a small stubble along the jawline and dye his hair blonde, he would look like her father with a bed head. Ash only chuckled at the girl's confused expression.

"You wanna sit on the ground the whole day and ogle me?", he asked with a smile and offered Ruby a hand, "Or do you wanna know more about your task and these weird abominations?"

"If I had to choose between the two, the latter sounds more appealing.", the crimsonette said, tried to return the smile and took the hand that pulled her up a moment later.

"Let's talk about this stuff at the guardhouse. I'm pretty sure the chairs in my office are a lot more comfortable than the ground. And I could really use a drink or two after this fight. Getting old sucks.", the black-haired man suggested and kneaded his shoulder in the process. He checked on his men one last time, got a nod in return, and made his way back to the city.

'A drink, huh?', Ruby thought, 'That sounds oddly familiar.' Then she followed this weird mixture of her dad and her uncle to the guardhouse.

* * *

They were talking for a while now in Ash's office. The guard captain had told Ruby that these new Grimm appeared about two months ago. First, they were only a few, but now they attacked in large groups every other day. The village had requested help from Beacon Academy a week after the Grimm had first shown up. They had sent a few recon aircrafts first, but it was pretty difficult to make these things out in the wilderness. After a few days they found out that there were a lot of them on the island of Vytal, but it was still unknown how they made it over the ocean. And since it was impossible to assess the situation from the sky, Beacon had started to send in some teams to investigate.

"So you're sure these things are coming from Vytal island?", Ruby repeated the explanation, "Wasn't this the place where the four nations made peace after the Great War?"

"Yeah, but now it spawns these new Grimm, or something causes some kind of mutation, or whatever. We don't know yet.", Ash confirmed, "But what we know is that this place is incredibly dangerous. Something pretty nasty is going on there."

"So what are we going to do about this?", Ruby asked curiously. The crimsonette was eager to help. It was obvious to her that the situation was serious.

" _We_ aren't going to do anything about it. And _I_ , as well as the staff of Beacon, don't want you to go there.", the guard captain continued, "The four Academies are still discussing how to investigate this Grimm-infested slaughter pit. And they most certainly won't ask their students to do this when they finally come up with a plan."

"And what are Weiss and I going to do while we're here?", Ruby asked further.

"These things somehow made it from Vytal island to the continent.", Ash explained, "And Creeps aren't exactly the best swimmers. Either they managed to make it across the ocean somehow else, or they've started to spawn here, too, for whatever reason. You're here to investigate this to help us solve the mystery. You're going into the wilderness and start searching for clues. I'd do it myself, but this town needs me in case these purple bastards attack from somewhere else."

"And what exactly are these purple bastard?", Ruby wondered, "Is there anything else we need to know to fight them better?"

"I think the essentials are clear, eh?", the black-haired man grunted, "Nasty little things... Ya kill 'em, they explode into a cloud of this stuff. If it hits you it's gonna hurt... a lot. It's like acid, burns the flesh from the bone if you don't get it off soon enough. Some poor guy already lost his arm, but apart from that, we're not doing _that_ bad. The question is how long we can last at this pace. We're pretty worn out already and more and more of these things are coming every other day."

"Does this... mutation, or whatever... only affect the Creeps?", Ruby continued to ask. After hearing this gruesome story about an amputation, every single detail could be a lifesaver.

"As far as I know.", Ash said and nodded, "But I have no idea what's going on on Vytal island or out there in the wilderness, so ya might encounter some other infested Grimm. Oh, I almost forgot! One time we saw an Alpha Creep at the gates. This bastard could also spit this weird acid. Well, not very far, but still... Be careful when ya go out investigating. Something you may think you know from your books could play a new, filthy trick on you."

'Okay, this is bad...', Ruby thought, 'Everything we learned at Beacon about Grimm could be totally useless. But I won't back down. These people need our help.'

"Any more questions?", the guard captain asked.

Ruby thought about it for a few moments, then she replied: "I guess not. I think that's all we need to know for now."

"Great! I also don't know what else I can tell you.", Ash said, checked his watch and yawned, "It's getting pretty late and the two of you already had a _hearty welcome_ (he used air quotes on that, obviously referring to the Grimm attack). And believe me, you don't want to fight those things at night until you got a little more experience with 'em. Ya better go to the inn and catch some Z's. Tomorrow's going to be pretty tough on you."

"Alright, sir.", the crimsonette responded, stood up and was going to leave the office, "See you tomorrow."

"Oh, and also fill in your partner on these details.", the black-haired man cat-called at her, "She needs to know about this stuff as well if she wants to survive out there."

"Of course.", Ruby said, "Bye." Then she took her leave.

Now that the crimsonette hadn't something to distract her anymore, the inevitable confrontation with Weiss came back into her mind. Hopefully, the white-haired girl would've calmed down by now. It was just a kiss... Okay, Ruby knew it had been stupid to kiss her in public but was this really a reason to be so mad at her? Even hurting her? Why was Weiss still so scared of everything? After all, they had promised each other something: Whatever was going to happen, they would always have each other... or wouldn't they?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And again, they did something stupid... These dolts really aren't getting any better at this relationship-stuff (mostly Weiss), am I right? Let's just hope they can pour oil on troubled waters after they talked this one out. Would be a real shame if Ruby and Weiss are going to break up over something stupid like that...
> 
> You may have noticed that Ash's sword has a lot of resemblance to Nero's Red Queen in DMC 4. This thing was always one of my favorite fantasy weapons, so I thought: "Why not use something like that in my fanfic." Some might call this uncreative, but if you ever slaughtered a bunch of demons with this thing, you have to agree that it's a sword a badass Huntsman would definitely use.
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you think about this one. The next one or two chapters will probably deal with Ruby's and Weiss' relationship again, but after that, we will come to some Grimm-slaying action. It seems like some weird shit is going on near and on Vytal island.
> 
> Peace out! LCS


	19. Acceptance

Weiss spent the rest of her day absentmindedly wandering through the village and its surroundings. Most of the time she stayed by the cliffside because there were no people bothering her so she could be alone with her thoughts. The sound of the waves crashing against the cliff and the screaming of the seagulls made it somewhat peaceful – yet, it didn't help her to calm down.

She had done it again...

This thought repeated itself over and over again in her head. She had pushed Ruby away again, even though the only thing the crimsonette had wanted was to express her love to her, to exchange a little affection, to help her open up a bit more. And Weiss knew she was in dire need of that. Of course, she wanted to be like that. She wanted to be proud of their relationship, to show everyone what an awesome girlfriend she had, to hug and kiss Ruby and shower her with affection everytime the crimsonette would allow her to. But she couldn't. She didn't even know why, but she just _couldn't_ be that person.

Therefore, she had done it again. And she knew she would probably do it the next time, too... if she would get another chance to do so, that is... if their relationship wasn't over already...

Weiss wiped a tear from her eye while she was sitting by the cliffside and stared over the ocean. The sun was slowly setting and a fresh breeze made her shiver a little. It was probably time to return to the inn. Yet, the white-haired girl didn't want to. She didn't want to face Ruby right now. Because at this time, it wasn't certain that her relationship with her Rose Petal was over. But when Weiss would face her again, when they would talk about what had happened a few hours ago... then this blissful uncertainty would be gone. And the heiress probably knew how things would end up.

Weiss took a deep breath. Why did she agree to this whole relationship-thing in the first place? One side of her already knew how it would turn out: Everything that would be remaining was two piles of ashes, formerly two young, innocent and more or less cheerful souls. It was idiotic to think it would go any different.

She wasn't Ruby's Snowflake... she was the Ice Queen.

Maybe she could try to change Ruby's mind, begging her not to leave her. But even though it was an option, Weiss knew she wouldn't do it. She was too proud to do so... or too cold-hearted... or just not capable of showing these kinds of emotion. She had never been. She never would be. Ruby deserved someone better. No, Ruby just deserved someone else...

...because Weiss knew everyone would make a better girlfriend for the cute, crimson-haired girl than her.

With these thoughts in mind, the heiress stood up, dusted herself off and left to return to the inn. She didn't try to think about it anymore. She just wanted to be her former self again... insensitive again...

Empty again...

* * *

After Ruby had talked with Ash for some time, the guard captain had suggested that she should go get some rest. After all, tomorrow would be an exhausting day. Yet, the crimsonette didn't want to go to the inn. As soon as she had left the guardhouse, she immediately started to look for Weiss. She wanted to explain herself, to apologize for her stupid actions, to put right what she had done wrong. Ruby asked her way through the citizens, trying to find some clue about the whereabouts of a white-haired girl that had recently arrived in this town. But nobody could provide any useful information.

The crimsonette started to sift through the town. She asked the blacksmith, the clerks at the stores and the village doctor. But everybody told her the same thing: The girl she was looking for had been with her when she had arrived, then there was a Grimm attack, and after that nobody had seen her. Ruby politely thanked everybody for the information and started to look for Weiss herself. She went to the inn first, then she searched the town for her, after that the woodlands close to the village and even the cliffside. But still, no Weiss.

'She's probably back at the inn by now and I just missed her.', Ruby thought as she watched the sun slowly setting, 'There's no way she would abandon me because of this. I mean... she's such an immaculate student, sooo... Wait, even if she wanted to bail on me, she couldn't. We're on a mission. No... she wouldn't bail on me, right? We're a couple, after all... aren't we?'

Yet, the last sentence sounded like she was just trying to convince herself. It made her heart sink.

* * *

Ruby had arrived at the inn a while ago, had gotten her keys and had gone upstairs. Yet, she was still standing in front of the door of her room. It seemed like hours to her now, yet she couldn't bring herself to open it. She was afraid of what would await her in there. If Weiss was there, she would have to apologize for her stupid actions. If her girlfriend wasn't in there, she would worry about her even more. But Ruby knew she couldn't stay in front of this door forever. So, with a sigh, she finally pushed it open.

The room was almost completely dark, only illuminated by a few rays of moonlight. But this didn't bother Ruby. What really bothered her was the silence that greeted her. Was Weiss still in the town? Or had she found a way to leave completely? Wouldn't she come back to her? But the moment Ruby's worries intensified, her eyes finally accommodated to the dim light and she spotted a familiar looking figure in one of the beds.

The crimsonette let out a sigh of relief. Weiss hadn't abandoned her. Okay, it probably had been a little over-dramatic to think so in the first place. But Ruby knew that the fact that the heiress was still here didn't mean that their problems were solved. Carefully, the crimson-haired girl made her way through the room.

"Weiss...", she whispered. No response. Maybe the white-haired girl was already asleep. Or maybe she was ignoring her.

"Weiss... are you asleep?", Ruby tried again but was still met with silence. She let out a defeated sigh. There was no telling if the heiress was sleeping or just didn't want to talk to her. Maybe it was better to postpone this conversation until tomorrow. Ruby knew that it would be a bad idea to be too pushy now since that had gotten her into this mess in the first place. The crimsonette decided that it would be best to just change into her pajamas and get some sleep. With this in thought, she grabbed a set of clothes from her bag and left for the bathroom.

* * *

After a quick shower and changing into her pajamas, Ruby stepped out of the bathroom as quiet as possible. She didn't want to wake Weiss up (if she really was asleep, that is). The crimsonette didn't need anything else that would worsen the heiress' mood. Therefore, she made her way over to her bed on her tiptoes to avoid making any more noise. But just before she could slip under the covers, she heard something weird.

A sob.

She turned around to face the heiress, who laid with her back to Ruby. For a moment the crimsonette thought she was just imagining things, but then she heard another sob. Was Weiss... crying?

* * *

The heiress hated herself for being the way she was. The moment Ruby had addressed her in the room, all she had wanted to do was to answer her, to apologize, to hug and kiss her – everything she thought about earlier. But for whatever reason, she couldn't move a muscle. She just laid there, hoping that Ruby would believe she was already asleep as she tried to hold her tears in and to stop her body from trembling.

It only got worse after she heard the bathroom door fell shut. After just two tries, Ruby had given up on her. Of course, that was what Weiss had wanted, but now that she got it, she felt terrible. Where was the Ruby that wouldn't accept a no when there was a problem with her friends that needed to be solved? Where was the Ruby that was utterly persistent regarding this stuff, annoying but still adorable? What had Weiss done to this pure, kind-hearted girl? Penis or no penis, she really was a monster, on the outside, and, most importantly, on the inside – she had always been one.

It was getting harder and harder not to start crying. But she didn't want Ruby to see her like this. Weiss had been the one who had screwed up, so if anybody had the right to cry, it was the crimsonette. When she heard the bathroom door open again, the heiress pressed her lips tightly together and held her breath. She wouldn't lose her composure now. She would just take her emotions and lock them back into her ice-cold heart like she had always done. Yet, her body disagreed with this decision.

A soft sob escaped her lips the moment she heard the rustling of bed sheets. The rustling immediately stopped. Weiss tried to hold her breath again, but this time she failed after just a few seconds. As she sobbed once more, she felt a few tears running down her cheeks. So much for hiding her emotions again.

'Why are you doing this to me, body?', Weiss asked inwardly, 'Why are you always betraying me? We've talked about this: Former self, insensitive, empty...'

Again, her body didn't listen to her. Another sob shook the heiress' form, this one a lot louder. Why was this happening? She had no right to cry. Ruby was the victim here. Weiss herself was just a pathetic little wimp that couldn't control her emotions. She had never despised herself more than at this very moment.

Then, suddenly, she felt someone crawl into her bed. Barely a second later she was pulled into a gentle hug. At the touch, Weiss' body went as stiff as a board.

"Ru-by?", she asked hesitantly.

"Well, I saw you lying in bed alone and I'm not mad at you. These were the conditions for snuggling up to you, right?", the crimsonette whispered, then added a little nervous, "Or... are _you_ mad at _me_?"

'Wait! Ruby is feeling guilty? Ruby thinks that she had done something wrong?', the heiress thought aghast, 'No! That is unacceptable! Ruby doesn't deserve to feel like this! I'm the only one who should feel like a piece of crap!'

"N-no... O-of course I'm not mad at you...", Weiss sobbed, "I'm... I... I..." Then, without a warning, she completely lost it and poured her heart out.

"I'm only mad at myself. I pushed you away again, this time literally. You are the sweetest girlfriend anyone could ask for, and I keep screwing up... over and over again, every time in the exact same way, just because I'm scared of my father, or my secret, or who knows what. I want to be proud of our relationship, I want to show you how much I love you and how much you mean to me, but I... I just _can't_. Even though I know all of that, there's nothing I can do about it. I'm just not... _able_... to do this relationship-stuff. It's like some higher power doesn't want me to do so... doesn't want me to be happy. I'll never be able to love you anywhere near as much as you deserve it."

The last part was barely audible as the heiress started to cry again. She didn't deserve Ruby's presence. She didn't deserve her touch. And, most of all, she didn't deserve her kisses.

Nevertheless, she suddenly felt a pair of soft, warm lips on the back of her neck.

"It's okay...", the crimsonette said soothing, "I know this isn't easy for you. But you're trying your best and you made a lot of progress already. I know you had a really bad childhood and you never learned to express your feelings because you were always lonely. But you don't have to be anymore. You have friends now, you have a team... and you'll always have me."

Another kiss on her neck finally managed to calm Weiss down a bit. She didn't stop crying though, but somehow everything felt less... painful. Ruby was still there, she still wanted to be with her. But for how long? Weiss knew that she would do something stupid again. Even if she continued to try changing, she would still be herself... and that included pushing Ruby away from time to time. Hurting her from time to time. And doing this even once wasn't something the crimsonette deserved.

"Why would you say something like this?", Weiss asked confused, "Don't you think you deserve someone better? Someone who treats you right... in a way I probably never could? Why do you still think I'm the one that's good enough for you?"

"Because I love you, silly... I love _you_ and I want to be with _you_.", Ruby said comforting and kissed her girlfriend's neck again, "...with the _you_ with all its flaws and insecurities."

"Y-you still do?", Weiss croaked out as she tried to stop crying, "After all that had happened? Even though I'm such a failure? Even though I'm the Ice Queen?"

"You're no failure. You're wonderful.", Ruby said and pressed her lips to the heiress' neck once more, "And you're not the Ice Queen. You're my Snowflake. Always remember that, okay? I know that there's so much love inside of you, you just need some time to learn to express it. But I promise we'll walk this path together. I'll always be by your side." With these words, she tightened the embrace and pressed her body as close to the heiress as possible.

Weiss couldn't take it anymore. She wriggled herself out of Ruby's hug just enough to turn around. Then she buried her face in the crook of her girlfriend's neck and started to cry her eyes out. She just clung to the crimsonette and cried, out of a weird mixture of self-loathing, because she was such a mess, and happiness, because Ruby somehow managed to handle all of this mess.

"It's okay... let it all out.", the crimsonette whispered soothing and tenderly stroked the heiress' back, "I'm there for you."

Somehow, it felt good to cry, Weiss realized – it helped her to calm down. But Ruby holding her probably had helped much more: The heiress knew she wasn't alone with her tears anymore. Ruby was there for her. Even after Weiss had done something horrible, something unforgivable (in her own, harsh opinion), Ruby was there, holding her, telling her everything would be alright.

After a few minutes, the heiress ran out of tears. She just sobbed a bit more, then she removed her head from the crook of her girlfriend's neck and looked at her apologetically with icy-blue, bloodshot eyes. However, Ruby's silver ones only showed sympathy and love, and maybe a little bit of relief as well.

* * *

"So? Everything fine again?", the crimsonette asked expectantly.

"Just... just like that?", Weiss responded with a sniffle.

"Of course.", Ruby confirmed, "We both did something stupid and we both are terribly sorry. So we should just leave all of this behind us and be happy again."

Weiss was stunned. This wasn't how things usually were supposed to go, was it? Someone had to do something to make it up to the other one, right? That's how stuff like that worked out. That was the way she was raised. If you mess up, you have to make amends for it.

But as the heiress saw Ruby's gentle smile, she immediately knew that this wasn't necessary this time. Ruby had absolutely meant what she just had said. And, suddenly, Weiss realized that the world didn't work like she had been told all the time. And relationships much less. A sincere apology, a substantial promise, a comforting hug or an honest "I love you" were a thousand times more valuable than the most expensive gifts or other meaningless redemption attempts.

And at that thought, she couldn't help but smile as well.

"I don't deserve such a wonderful girlfriend like you.", the heiress whispered, still a little sob in her voice.

"Still, you're stuck with me.", Ruby responded and kissed her softly on the lips, "But don't worry. I won't do something like that in public anymore. It was my fault that we got into this situation in the first place."

"No!", Weiss exclaimed forcefully, in a volume that was probably a little bit inappropriate in this situation, but it helped to press her point. Then, she regained her composure and continued: "No... I want you to kiss me whenever you want to. I want you to show me how much you love me whenever possible. And I promise I'll do the same from now on. You're my everything, Ruby. I don't care about anything else anymore. If I had to choose between you and... whatever... you'll always be my first choice."

"Same goes for me.", Ruby replied to Weiss' last remarks.

"I know...", Weiss whispered and added tenderly, "I always knew..."

"C'mere", the crimsonette whispered back and pulled her girlfriend into a gentle kiss.

As soon as their lips met, Weiss was in her own little world again, Ruby's world, _their_ world. Without even noticing, she pulled the crimsonette closer, tightening their embrace. She wanted to feel Ruby's body as close as possible to her own, she wanted to feel protected, to feel loved and cared about. Ruby, however, interpreted Weiss' actions a little different. The moment the younger girl noticed that her girlfriend pressed her body against her own more forcefully, she slipped her tongue between Weiss' slightly open lips. And while Ruby explored the heiress' oral cavity, her hands started to roam over this beautiful body that was only clad in a thin nightgown.

The crimsonette's actions didn't fall short of their effects. Weiss felt a twitch inside of her panties as her penis started to grow. The heiress tried to think of something different to prevent it from happening, but still, her mind was filled with nothing but Ruby, her sweet lips, her soft touch – it was impossible to get these things out of her mind. Soon, the growing appendage found its way out of the white-haired girl's underwear as it continued to grow and stiffen between both girl's bodies.

Maybe it happened this fast this time because of her emotions were running wild the last few hours. Maybe it happened because the heiress had been ignoring it for a while now. Or maybe this thing just wanted to ruin the moment she and Ruby were sharing right now.

"Just ignore this... what happens down there... it...", Weiss stammered as she broke the kiss, "This perverted stuff has nothing to do with me and my feelings for you."

"Don't worry. I told you a thousand times that it doesn't bother me.", Ruby said comforting, then she added with a giggle,"Actually, I think it likes me." Weiss only rolled her eyes at that comment.

"Stop treating it like it's its own being.", she said with an embarrassed sigh and looked away. Suddenly, Ruby got incredibly serious.

"Then you do too.", the crimson-haired girl stated firmly.

"Huh?", was all Weiss could respond as she faced Ruby again and raised one of her snow-white eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

"I mean that this thing is a part of you, Snowflake.", Ruby explained, "I know you didn't want it in the first place, but there's nothing you can change about that now. The only thing you can decide is whether to hate this thing and all it causes, letting it make you feel bad all the time, or to just accept yourself as you are... and that is a wonderful person after all."

Weiss had to agree that Ruby had a point. Not on the part with the wonderful person, because the heiress was pretty sure she wasn't one (yet?). But all the other things the crimsonette had said made sense to her. She only had this one choice in the matter. But how could she accept herself with this thing between her legs that made everything so difficult?

But Ruby continued: "If you don't acknowledge your penis as a part of your own body, then, of course, you have no control over it. That's probably why it acts up so much on its own. Maybe you should stop thinking about it as something that has its own mind, but about yourself as the one in charge of it. Maybe, with these weird and sometimes annoying signals, your body is trying to tell you something."

Okay, now that just sounded pretty stupid. Of course, Ruby would come up with this kind of explanation. But on the other hand, Weiss had to admit that her... thing often acted up when she was nervous or self-conscious about herself and her body. That, or when Ruby was involved, but this was either because she hadn't had admitted her feelings for her at that time (which _had_ made her nervous and self-conscious), or because she was getting aroused by the crimsonette's touch, which was probably pretty normal, considering she was still a hormonal teenager.

All things considered: Maybe Ruby was really up to something there. Maybe, if Weiss would just accept herself as she was, her penis would stop to act up that much. But even if it didn't stop, wouldn't it take a lot of pain and self-loathing away if the heiress could accept herself? Didn't she deserve to live without constant fear and loneliness? Didn't she deserve to be happy?

Or, more importantly: Didn't Ruby deserve a girlfriend that wasn't always so self-conscious about herself, hurting her in the process? Didn't Ruby deserve a girlfriend that would make _her_ happy? The answer to this one was simple...

"I don't ask you to fix all of this immediately. I know that's probably impossible. But, y'know... baby steps.", Ruby explained further, then her voice got affectionate again, "I mean, tonight it's just _you_ and _me_. I know about your secret and we're comfortable with each other. Maybe you could, and I mean just for tonight, for now, try to be yourself... but all of you this time."

Weiss couldn't make a response. All she could do was stare into these gentle-looking silver eyes. When did this formerly so childish dolt become so much more thoughtful, so much more mature, so much... wiser than her? The heiress suddenly knew what she wanted, had always wanted since the day they got together, even before that, but was Ruby really okay with...

"Just answer me one thing.", the crimsonette requested, "If you were to believe all the things I have just told you, and you were to accept them... and I would be totally fine with _everything you want to do now_..."

She leaned in closely and whispered sensually: "What would you do?"

* * *

Weiss immediately crushed her lips into her girlfriend's, kissing her passionately, demanding, lustfully. It was almost like a switch had been flipped inside of her brain. _This_ was what she wanted, what she needed. She would take everything Ruby was willing to give... even though that, in this case, Weiss was the one who would _give_ something to Ruby.

The crimsonette pulled her girlfriend closer and deepened the kiss the moment she felt the white-haired girl's tongue forcing its way into her mouth. Apparently, the heiress heeded her advice much faster than she had expected. Not that the younger girl was opposed to that, not in the slightest.

Weiss' hand slowly crept under Ruby's tank top and her fingertips started to caress her smooth, toned stomach. The heiress wanted to go even further, she wanted to touch Ruby's chest, but she hesitated. Was this too pushy? Was it too soon? Should they make out for a little longer before it was okay to do something like this? But then she felt Ruby's hand wandering up her thigh, under her nightgown, grabbing a handful of her firm ass. And if that wasn't enough reassurance already, the crimsonette pulled her girlfriend on top of her.

They broke their kiss only for a second so Weiss could pull Ruby's tank top over her head. Now, the younger girl's perky breasts were in plain view, illuminated by the pale moonlight. It was a mesmerizing sight to the heiress.

"Like what you see?", the crimsonette teased, but Weiss didn't react to it. Instead, she continued to kiss her girlfriend again, first on the lips, then on the cheek, after that on her jawline. The heiress trailed a path of kisses down her girlfriend's face and neck, going lower and lower. Soon she had reached Ruby's collarbone, but she didn't stop there. After she had showered this part of her body in affection as well, Weiss finally reached her primary target.

Ruby let out a needy whimper as she felt the white-haired girl's soft lips encompassing one of her nipples. Then, her whimper turned into a sensual moan the moment a warm, wet tongue gently brushed against it. The crimsonette never thought that this part of her body could be so sensitive. Her other breast wasn't neglected either since the heiress brought her hand to it and started to fondle the soft flesh.

"Oh, Weiss...", Ruby moaned as this new sensation washed over her body, "Can we... I mean... uh, nevermindjustkeepgoing."

The crimsonette was a little bit overwhelmed by Weiss' sudden bluntness. Of course, she appreciated it, but now she had no idea what to do to return the favor. Her girlfriend's cock was throbbing and twitching between their bodies and Ruby could feel the shaft rubbing against her wettening folds through her pajama pants and panties. It was driving her crazy. The feeling of Weiss fondling and kissing her breasts was highly pleasuring, but the younger girl wanted, no, needed more – so much MORE!

Ruby grabbed Weiss by the hips and pushed her to up a bit so she wasn't lying on her completely anymore. Then, the crimsonette pulled her girlfriend's already pre-cum stained nightgown up and her panties down. It wasn't exactly easy to coordinate her shaky hands since the heiress never stopped licking and sucking on her nipple, but Ruby somehow managed to get the task done.

Weiss let out a small yelp, muffled by the crimsonette's boob, as she felt slender fingers grasping her girthy shaft. Ruby slowly started to jerk her off, from tip to base, rubbing her girlfriend's pre-cum all over her cock in the process. But then, out of curiosity, her hand went lower and lower. The night the crimsonette had found out about this extra appendage Weiss had told her that she still had her _female parts_ , as she had put it, so why not giving them some attention as well? The white-haired girl was still a woman, after all.

As soon as Ruby's fingertips brushed over her slick outer lips, a high-pitched shriek from Weiss echoed through the inn room. The crimsonette's nipple slipped out of her mouth and she buried her face into her girlfriend's cleavage. A huge drop of pre-cum fell from the tip of her dick and onto Ruby's stomach. The heiress never thought that she would be so sensitive down there.

"Dust! R-ruby!", she moaned, "Wha-what are you d-doing..."

'Looks like I found a weak spot.', the younger girl thought with a mischievous grin and continued her assault on Weiss' pussy. She ran her middle finger up and down the silky folds which got wetter and wetter by the second. Ruby soon found the entrance to her core, but decided not to push inside... yet – she would save that for later. Instead, the crimsonette went back to stroke her girlfriend's cock which was constantly dripping pre-cum by now.

Weiss somehow regained some of her composure after a while. She brought her lips to Ruby's nipple again and continued to kiss and lick it. However, the hand that had fondled her other breast slowly traveled down her smooth body, until it reached between her girlfriend's legs and under her clothes. So Ruby had made a moaning mess out of her by playing with her pussy? Well, two could play this game.

The lewd sounds the crimsonette started to make as soon as Weiss' fingers ran up and down her wet womanhood were music to the heiress' ears. It felt good to know that she was able to pleasure her girlfriend. But she knew she could do even better – she was a Schnee, after all, and a Schnee always strove for perfection. Therefore, Weiss got another idea.

Searching for and finding her entrance a moment later, the heiress gently pushed her middle finger inside her girlfriend's silken tunnel to the second knuckle and slowly started thrusting. Ruby's reaction came immediately: Another moan, this time noticeably louder, slipped from her throat and her vaginal muscles clamped down tightly on the digit. Growing even bolder, Weiss added her index finger as well. Her cock had been in there a few days ago, so two fingers wouldn't be a big deal.

* * *

The young couple continued with their actions for a while, but it soon wasn't enough to satisfy them anymore. Their arousal grew stronger by the second until it was almost unbearable. Finally, Ruby took initiative. She pulled down her pajama pants and panties, grabbed her girlfriend's cock and guided the tip to her drenched entrance. Weiss let go of the crimsonette's nipple and bit her own bottom lip as she felt her dick touch these silky folds.

"You take the lead this time.", Ruby panted and spread her legs a little further. At this statement, Weiss grew a lot more nervous. Last time, her girlfriend had been in control of this whole situation, setting the pace and making sure it didn't hurt them. What if she would do something wrong now?

"Don't worry.", Ruby reassured as she sensed Weiss' worries, "Just be careful and try to find out what feels best for both of us."

"O-okay...", the heiress responded and slowly started to push inside. The crimson-haired girl tried her best to relax as she felt the large intruder entering her. It still felt a little weird, but it wasn't painful anymore. Quite the contrary, actually: It felt amazing, almost like Weiss' member was meant to be there.

It still took a little effort for the heiress to penetrate Ruby since the tip was slightly larger than the rest of her dick. But once it was inside her, it got a lot easier to push in further. The crimson-haired girl's insides fit her like a velvety glove. With every inch that got devoured by Ruby's honeypot, Weiss felt more and more complete. Finally, she could stop worrying about her secret, or, even better, enjoy who or what she was. That was all Weiss could think off, while a wave of endorphins rushed through her body, accompanied by the sound of Ruby's sweet hums and moans of pleasure.

More and more of the white-haired girl's cock disappeared inside of her girlfriend's pussy. Soon, a small bump appeared on Ruby's stomach, like it had happened at Beacon before. But both girls were too absorbed in pleasure to care about or even notice it. After Weiss was about halfway inside of the crimson-haired girl, she slowly started thrusting, much to the latter's delight.

"Oh, Dust...", the heiress moaned, "You're so tight, Ruby."

"No, you're just so big.", the crimsonette responded panting, "Holy f... were you this huge the last time?"

"Am I hurting you?", Weiss asked concerned and slowed her thrusts.

"Are you kidding?", Ruby asked back, "It feels amazing. Keep going. More. I want more of this!"

That was exactly what the heiress wanted to hear (she felt the same way, after all) and she couldn't help but smile. Without even thinking about it, she bent down and captured her girlfriend's lips in a soft kiss as she sped up her pace a little.

Weiss was still careful since she knew she was pretty big, but it got harder and harder to hold back. Even though she didn't intend to do so, with each thrust she slowly buried a little more of her dick inside of Ruby's pussy, one inch at a time. After roughly two-thirds of it had entered the crimsonette, Weiss felt a small bump on the tip of her member. It felt a lot firmer than the normal texture of Ruby's insides and also not as smooth, more like ribbed. The heiress wondered what it could be as she nudged her dick against it.

As soon as Ruby felt the tip of her girlfriend's dick grind against this certain spot, she clawed at the bed sheets and moaned: "Oh Dust! There! Exactly there!" Apparently, Weiss had struck a chord. Therefore, she continued to rub her member over this obviously pretty sensitive area, coaxing a few more gasps and moans out of the crimson-haired girl.

"You like that?", Weiss half-asked, half-moaned as she continued her assault on this specific area.

"Uh-huh.", Ruby nodded, "You feeling good too?"

"It's fantastic.", the heiress responded, "You're fantastic."

"Do you... want to go deeper?", the crimsonette asked between her pants. At this question, Weiss suddenly came to a halt.

"D-deeper? But then I'll hit your womb again.", Weiss interjected, "Doesn't this hurt you? I don't want that."

"Don't worry about it. You already did it back at Beacon.", Ruby said, "I guess I'm used to it by now." She pulled her girlfriend a little closer, forcing another inch inside of her body, and before they knew it, the tip of Weiss' dick kissed Ruby's cervix. It still felt weird to the crimsonette but, as she had assumed, it didn't cause her pain anymore.

"And as far as I remember, it felt really good for you.", the crimsonette finished with a small smile as she saw Weiss screw up her eyes while her whole body started to tremble.

"That... might be true...", the heiress panted as she pulled her cock back out a little, "B-but it's a little early for that, I guess."

She slowly started thrusting again, trying to hit Ruby's sweet spot and succeeding. The crimsonette let out another needy whimper as she felt the tip of Weiss' cock brushing against it. The heiress was kind of proud that she slowly got a hang of all this intimate stuff. Maybe her doubts about herself were unjustified. Maybe she really could be a good girlfriend and lover.

"But if you really aren't opposed to me doing _that_ again...", Weiss continued and gave Ruby another gentle peck on the lips, "I'll do so when you come, okay?"

Ruby only nodded and pulled her girlfriend closer, crushing their lips together once more. Their tongues met in an instant and started to dance around one another. Breathing got less and less important until they only broke away from each other for a split-second before they continued to make out – and only if it was absolutely necessary. As they moaned into each other's mouths, Weiss picked up the pace of her thrusts, slowly but steadily driving them closer to orgasm.

The crimsonette was on cloud nine. The heiress' dick ground over this oh so sweet spot inside of her all over again. Not that it wouldn't feel amazing anyway, but this now was indescribable. Why hadn't Weiss hit this spot the first time? Or maybe she had. Ruby didn't remember. It was getting harder and harder to think as her brain was turned into mush by the pleasure.

Weiss was pretty much entering a similar state. It felt like heaven how the crimson-haired girl's soft, warm inner walls massaged her member, trying to push her out and suck her back in at the same time. The white-haired girl's thrusts grew more and more erratic as their love-making went on and she occasionally bumped into Ruby's cervix. She really tried to avoid doing so, but her hips had started moving on their own a long time ago.

Both girls didn't even try to keep their moans quiet anymore. If they weren't muffled by each other's mouths, the whole inn would have heard what the young couple was doing by now. But even if someone would've heard them, Ruby and Weiss were far from caring as they were getting closer and closer to their climax.

Weiss brought a hand back up to her girlfriend's chest and started to massage one of her breasts once more, squeezing it affectionately and flicking her thumb over the erect nipple from time to time. Ruby had grabbed the white-haired girl by her neck to push her onto her own lips even harder and almost forcing her tongue down the heiress' throat, as well as by her ass to spur her to thrust faster, or deeper, or whatever to amplify their ecstasy. They both knew they would reach their peaks in a matter of seconds.

"J-just a little more...", Ruby wailed in pleasure as she broke their make-out session, "I-I'm almo... almost..."

"M-me too.", Weiss responded, panting heavily, "Let's d-do it together."

The crimsonette only responded with a nod and a smile, then she shoved her girlfriend's lips back on her own ones. Weiss hammered even faster into Ruby now, while Ruby herself started to buck her hips against the heiress' large member. A familiar heat was building up inside of their bodies, waiting to explode.

And in the blink of an eye, it did.

The younger girl's cry of pleasure got stuck inside of her throat as a mind-shattering orgasm rocked through her core. Her whole body started to spasm uncontrollably as she clawed her hands into Weiss' skin, her fingernails threatening to draw blood. The crimsonette's insides gripped the dick inside of her as hard as they could, trying to milk out every drop of cum her girlfriend was willing to give them – and they were about to get it.

As soon as Weiss felt Ruby's inner walls clamp down on her, she prepared her final thrust. Yet, she didn't even need to do so, because as soon as Ruby's orgasm hit her the crimson-haired girl locked her legs behind Weiss' back and pulled her as close as possible. Like last time, her cervix resisted a bit at first, but soon had no other choice as to give in. And the moment the white-haired girl felt its vice-like grip on the crown of her dick, it pushed her over the edge as well.

A ridiculously large amount of hot, thick cum traveled through her cock, up to the tip, and exploded inside of Ruby's womb, painting her insides white. The first few spurts filled the tiny organ to the brim, but there was still a lot more to come. And since the girthy member blocked the only exit, the crimsonette had no other choice but to accept everything her girlfriend had to offer – not that she cared anyway.

As Weiss' ejaculation continued, her excessive output caused Ruby's womb to expand and her belly to swell. Spurt after huge spurt was pumped into the crimson-haired girl, with nowhere else to go. The young couple was too absorbed in the pleasure to notice yet, but soon Ruby started to look a little bloated. Fortunately, Weiss' dick finally calmed down after about half a minute and the last trickles of cum somehow squeezed themselves into the younger girl's overstuffed body.

After they were finally spent, they went completely slack. Both girls were panting heavily as they basked in the afterglow of their orgasms. This had been at least as intense as the last time two days ago, probably even more so. They needed a moment to reorientate themselves, so the young couple just laid there for a while, enjoying each other's closeness. But as they slowly regained her senses, the white-haired girl, lying on top of her girlfriend, suddenly noticed that something was off. Something she was lying upon.

"Ruby... Oh my gosh, your belly!", Weiss exclaimed concerned as she looked down. The younger girl followed her girlfriend's gaze. The sight was a little surprising, but it didn't bother her in the slightest. Not even an airstrike from an Atlesian military airship could bother her at the moment.

"Don't worry... totally fine.", Ruby sighed, still with a dreamy expression on her face, "Actually, it feels kinda nice... so warm and full."

That calmed the heiress down a bit, but the whole situation was still utterly confusing. She had no idea why she always came this much or where this stuff was stored inside of her body. But then again, her penis was created by using experimental Dust from some shady and unsuccessful medical research. She was glad that Ruby wasn't weirded out by her strange anatomy, though.

"So, umm... Do you want to go another round?", the crimsonette suddenly asked, "I mean, you're still as hard as an iron bar."

"No, thanks... it'll go soft after a while, I guess...", Weiss answered, still panting, "By the way, I'm way too sensitive right now to keep going."

"Thank Dust, me too.", Ruby sighed relieved, "Another round would definitely fry my brain. We probably need a little more _practice_ to built up some stamina."

The heiress blushed at that comment but smiled nonetheless. Since she and Ruby were spent for today, Weiss slowly started to pull out. But then, without a warning, the younger girl stopped her from doing so by grabbing her ass and pushing her back inside.

"No, wait...", the crimsonette whispered and both girls bit their lower lips to stifle a moan as Weiss' dick reentered Ruby, "I... I want you to stay inside of me. It feels nice to be so close."

"Totally fine with me. It really feels lovely.", the white-haired girl agreed, "And there's no place this thi... _I..._ would rather be."

"Finally accepting yourself?", Ruby asked with a small grin.

"I... guess.", the heiress answered contently, looking into her girlfriend's beautiful eyes, "Thank you... for always being there for me." Then she gave Ruby a soft kiss on the lips and snuggled up to her.

"You're welcome.", the crimson-haired girl responded as she caressed the back of Weiss' head, gently running her fingers through the silky strands of white hair, "I love you, Snowflake."

"I love you too, Rose Petal.", Weiss whispered and peppered her neck with a few soft kisses.

They continued to cuddle and caress each other for a while, but their exhaustion soon got the better of them. A comfortable silence filled the room. There was no need for another single word – everything both girls needed to know for now they could easily tell by the other's relaxed heartbeat. And by the time Weiss' member finally went completely soft inside of Ruby, they had long since fallen asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand another smut scene done. Now that the plot is going to thicken, I decided to write one or two more of these before Ruby and Weiss won't have much time for this anymore.
> 
> Another thing, so I don't have to explain myself in the comments anymore: I'm not trying to depict realistic sex here. I know that cervical penetration is impossible, the amount of cum is anything but normal, the g-stop is not that deep inside the vagina, etc. I'm not going to write totally extreme stuff either, but I guess I'll move somewhere in between realistic sex and totally crazy Futa sex like you find it in these typical harem stories. And, of course, things are going to stay mostly fluffy.
> 
> That said, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and the outcome of Ruby's and Weiss' little crisis. I mean, there was comforting, character development, make-up sex... I really have no idea what I could've probably missed. Maybe if something like that is going to happen again, I'll include them fighting a little (or a lot), but for now, they both deserve a bit more happiness, before things are going to get... whoa... close one! Not gonna spoil the story for you.
> 
> Anyway, please leave a comment and stay tuned. I'll see you next chapter.


	20. A Little Breakthrough

Just like two days ago, Weiss awoke in a weird, sticky puddle of warmth. According to the sun's position, it was still pretty early. But, of course, this wasn't an excuse for sleeping in - they had a mission to attend to. The people of this village were counting on them.

As she tried to get up, she noticed that something clung to her... or, to be more precise, someone. Ruby let out a soft groan as she was awoken from her slumber.

"Wakey, wakey...", the heiress whispered and gave her girlfriend a soft kiss on the forehead.

"Hmm... g'mrning...", Ruby mumbled as she lazily opened one of her silver eyes.

"And a good morning to you, Rose Petal.", Weiss responded.

Even in her dizzy state, the crimsonette managed to lift her head up a bit and captured the other girl's lips with her own. Even their morning breaths didn't bother the young couple as they slowly made out with each other. A warm, fuzzy feeling made itself at home in their heads again.

But even though this moment was utterly pleasant, both girls knew they had to get up eventually. Duty called, after all. So after a few minutes of kissing and cuddling, Weiss decided to break away from Ruby.

"I guess we should start to get ready.", the heiress pondered, "I'm going to the bathroom and shower off... last night." A faint blush covered her cheeks as she said that. However, what her girlfriend said next turned this light shade of pink into a deep crimson.

"Umm... before you go, can I... see you naked?", Ruby asked bluntly.

"What?", the white-haired girl exclaimed, "How could you say something like that so nonchalantly?"

"Hey, you saw me in all my glory back at the medical ward.", Ruby said, "It's only fair if I can see you, too. After everything we did, y'know." It was now that Weiss realized that every time they got... intimate... she had never discarded her gown completely. It had always just been shoved up, so they could...

"That might be true, but...", Weiss admitted at Ruby's statement, desperately trying to think of a _but_ , "I mean... wait, you already saw me in the dorm room, after you broke down the door to the shower!" Hopefully, this would save her. She still was pretty self-conscious about her body. She knew she shouldn't be anymore, after everything she and Ruby had done already, but still. What happened to _baby steps_ , as the crimsonette had put it yesterday?

"Yeah, but at that time I wasn't really paying attention to, well, the whole thing.", Ruby explained, "And I don't mean just _that_ thing. I mean you, completely."

"But what if you think I look weird?", the heiress asked concerned, "I mean, this is not what a body has to look like. What if things are going to change between us?"

"Weiss...", Ruby sighed, a little bit annoyed by the fact that yesterday's improvements only lasted for so long, "Would you _please_ stop worrying about your penis already. This thing had made me feel the best I've ever felt in my life, twice, so it most certainly won't scare me away. Also, I'm pretty sure that your body is perfect in every way."

Getting a little more confident by her girlfriend's reassuring words, Weiss managed to croak out an "O-okay..." as she slowly rose from the bed and stood beside it. She knew Ruby was only trying to help her overcome her fears. Yet, she still felt uncomfortable as she discarded her nightgown and panties.

Ruby, still topless, fixed her pajama pants, got up as well and started to circle the white-haired girl, almost looking like an art critic, taking in the sight of her body, from top to bottom. She ignored the fact that Weiss turned her face away in embarrassment as her eyes traveled down her girlfriend's form – from her beautiful visage to her small, but cute and perky breasts, over her slender stomach and feminine hips, her perfectly shaped butt and her toned legs...

After she had ogled these parts of her girlfriend's body enough, she knelt down in front of Weiss, inspecting the one the heiress was so afraid of. Just above her vagina was a penis, about the size of her thumb, maybe a little bigger. So this was the thing that had been inside her a few hours ago. Ruby couldn't take her eyes off of it. The heiress was feeling more and more uncomfortable by the second, but then her girlfriend said something that threw her off guard.

"I think it looks cute.", Ruby explained, "Its skin is so fair... and smooth... not like these dark and veiny things in the dirty magazines I found at my uncle's place that one time when he left me alone there."

Weiss was too stunned to even react to Ruby's last remark about browsing porn magazines at her uncle's place. Instead, she concentrated on the other things the younger girl had just said. She wasn't grossed out by her penis? She even thought it was... cute?

Ruby looked up and gave her girlfriend a reassuring smile: "See? As I told you, it fits your beautiful body perfectly. Nothing weird, nothing changed. And now we both know each other even better."

"T-thank you, Ruby...", Weiss stammered blushing but managed to return the smile.

* * *

But then, suddenly, Ruby leaned forward and gave the flaccid member a soft kiss. The reaction came immediately: the crimson-haired girl felt it twitch against her silky lips and it started to grow again... and fast.

"R-Ruby?! W-what are you doing?!", Weiss yelped and wanted to back away. Unfortunately for her, the bed was right behind her.

"Just trying something new.", the crimsonette replied and gave her girlfriend's cock another gentle kiss, this time right on the tip.

"Ruby... d-don't... it's dirty.", Weiss said, her breath hitching slightly, "I haven't even showered yet."

"I don't mind.", her girlfriend said sensually as she kissed the growing dick in front of her once more, but this time she let her lips linger on it a little longer. Ruby felt it pulsating as more and more blood was pumped into it. She pulled away and grasped the member, giving it an affectionate squeeze in the process. It was weirdly amazing to her that something that had been so small grew this large in just a matter of seconds.

Weiss was too stunned to do anything but stare. The heiress had no clue from where her girlfriend got the idea of doing something like that, although she had to admit it felt really nice. A glistening bead of pre-cum already oozed from the tip as she felt her arousal grew.

The crimson-haired girl eyed the now fully erect member that twitched and throbbed in front of her, a hungry look on her face upon seeing the clear drop of Weiss' essence. She wondered what it would taste like and she was all too eager to find out. Therefore, she gave the tip of her girlfriend's cock a tentative lick, making Weiss tremble with excitement and coaxing a sensual moan out of her.

The taste was a bit odd, but actually kind of pleasant: salty, but with a hint of sweetness, probably because Weiss ate a lot of fruit and avoided junk food (or red meat in general). Ruby really could get used to this. And she knew exactly how to get more of it.

Another couple of licks and kisses to the sensitive tip made Weiss' legs go weak and she collapsed onto the bed behind her, slipping out of Ruby's grip. However, the younger girl quickly crawled between her thighs and grasped the throbbing length again. She then gave the shaft another long lick, this time from base to tip. The needy whimper the heiress let out encouraged her even more, so she repeated the action – but this time she made sure to drag her tongue through the cleft of her girlfriend's pussy as well.

"Oh, Dust! Ruby!", the white-haired girl moaned and clawed at the bed sheets below her. How come her girlfriend was so fucking good at this? Had she practiced doing something like this? Maybe on a banana or something? Or maybe she was just a natural. Whatever the answer was, Weiss was too wrapped up in pleasure to care as her body quivered and her fingernails almost ripped the bed sheets apart.

The crimsonette only smiled at her partner's actions – and this was just the beginning of what she had in mind. The really good part was yet about to come. Ruby decided she had teased Weiss long enough. She gave the head another long kiss, but then, instead of pulling away again, her lips parted and she allowed the large tip to enter her mouth.

Weiss let out a yelp as she felt her dick slip into the crimsonette's warm, wet oral cavity. It felt just as good as being inside her pussy, different, but amazing nonetheless. The heiress used the last of her strength that hadn't left her body to push herself up to her elbows. What she saw made a shiver run down her spine. Ruby was sucking passionately on her member, her mesmerizing silver eyes directed at her, and tried to smile at her the best she could, given her current situation.

Just the sight of this cute, innocent girl smiling at her with her mouth full of dick was almost enough to push Weiss over the edge. But the heiress somehow managed to resist the urge to cum here and now. Just like the last times, she wanted this sensation to last as long as possible.

"Am I doing good?", Ruby asked after the tip of her girlfriend's dick left her mouth with a wet _pop_.

"I-It's... incredible.", Weiss panted as she slumped down again, "Y-you're amazing. J-just keep going."

The crimson-haired girl only smiled at the praise and dove down on the cock again. Since it was pretty big, Ruby made sure to be careful with her teeth, yet she couldn't pretend that they lightly grazed it from time to time. However, it didn't cause Weiss any discomfort at all as a mind-numbing pleasure made itself at home in her brain.

As Ruby suckled on her girlfriend's tip, she slowly took a little more into her mouth, and a little more. Suddenly, Weiss felt her dick bump into something. She looked up again and saw that about five or six inches had disappeared into the younger girl's mouth. Apparently, the resistance she had bumped into was the back of her throat.

As soon as Ruby felt her girlfriend's member prod the back of her throat, she couldn't help but gag a little. Nevertheless, she also felt pretty proud that she was able to take this much. Maybe later, when she had grown accustomed to it, she could go even deeper. But for now, this should do just fine – and the sweet hums and moans coming from the white-haired girl confirmed this thought.

Ruby started to bob her head up and down, slowly but steadily, letting about four inches of Weiss' cock slide out of her mouth before she devoured it again. Her tongue swirled around the sizable member, while she stroked everything she couldn't get into her mouth in the same pattern she was bobbing her head. It might be her first time doing something like this, but somehow her body instinctively knew what she had to do.

Weiss was sure she had died and gone to heaven. The sensation that washed over her body was melting her brain: Ruby's soft lips and her hot, wet mouth, her strong, eager tongue that caressed her saliva-coated cock, and her throaty and deliciously sensual moans that vibrated around it. Unable to contain herself any longer, Weiss started to thrust up into Ruby's mouth, trying to force her member even further down her girlfriend's gullet. Of course, she hit the back of the younger girl's throat more often because of this, but at this point, both of them were far from caring.

Then, in a sudden fit of wantonness, Ruby pushed herself down even further. She started to retch again, a little bit of spit trickled down her chin and her eyes started to tear, but at least she accomplished her goal. A guttural shriek of pleasure and bliss from Weiss echoed through the small room as she felt the tip of her dick enter her girlfriend's throat. It constricted her cock almost as tightly as Ruby's cervix and it felt amazing. The heiress wanted this moment to last forever, but at the same time, she wanted release, NOW!

Her hands acted on their own as she sat up a bit again, grabbed two fistfuls of her girlfriend's silky hair and roughly pulled her even closer. Ruby's eyes went wide as even more cock was forced down her throat. As much as the crimsonette wanted to please her Snowflake, this was getting kind of unpleasant. She wanted to back away, at least a little, but Weiss had an iron grip on her. Accepting her fate, Ruby just tried to relax her throat, still gagging around her girlfriend's member as it started to swell.

The sensation of her cock being swallowed that deep, combined with the pleasure of Ruby's gags around it (which caused her throat muscles to massage the intruder even more) sent the white-haired girl over the edge in an instant. The crimsonette felt Weiss' member expand even more and it started to create an ache in her jaw. Then, the floodgates opened.

Thick ropes of cum started to spurt from the heiress' dick, coating Ruby's insides in pristine white fluids once more. Since Weiss was buried that deep inside of her mouth, the younger girl didn't even have to swallow. As the orgasm overwhelmed her, the heiress let go of her girlfriend's head and just fell back onto the mattress completely, arching her back and bucking her hips against the other girl's lips. Ruby just stayed there, with approximately ten inches of cock in her mouth, as cum rushed down her throat and into her waiting stomach.

More and more of Weiss' essence filled the younger girl, but even something created by experimental Dust had its limits. After about fifteen seconds, the heiress' member was finally finished shooting its load. Again, Ruby was pretty amazed by her girlfriend's virility and refractory rate. But unlike yesterday, this time it wasn't as much cum to bloat her mid-section noticeably – still, the crimsonette's stomach looked a wee bit pudgy.

As Ruby withdrew from her girlfriend she dragged her tongue over her urethra, trying to squeeze out every last drop that might be left inside. Her lips lingered on the tip for a while, sucking on it gently to make sure that all of the heiress' essence went where it belonged – inside of her belly. Then, Weiss' slowly shrinking dick popped out of her mouth. Ruby swallowed one last time, savoring the taste of her girlfriend's cum in the process, and let out a soft, feminine burp afterwards.

Weiss slowly came down from her high. She laid on the bed, covered in sweat and panting heavily. Her vision was blurry and her memory hazy. What in Remnant's sake had happened in the last few minutes? She remembered Ruby and she had shared a beautiful moment, after that the crimson-haired girl had started to kiss and lick her penis, this soon turned into a real and surprisingly skillful blowjob, and then, right before she had cum... Suddenly, Weiss realized what she had done.

"Oh my gosh, Ruby!", the heiress exclaimed as she sat up, even if it took her a little effort since she was still pretty weak because of her recent orgasm, "I-I didn't mean to... I mean, a-are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm alright.", the crimson-haired girl reassured, but her breath was still a bit heavy, interrupted by a slight cough from time to time.

"I'm terribly, terribly sorry.", Weiss apologized in shame, "I got carried away, and..."

"Don't worry about it. _I_ wanted to do this in the first place.", Ruby replied with a smile, " But... whew... that covers breakfast for me."

"D-don't say lewd things like that...", Weiss said, blushing furiously at the crimsonette's comment.

"Come on, Snowflake. It was just a joke. Well, kind of...", Ruby pondered and patted her stomach. Then she took a seat right next to her girlfriend and put an arm around her, "I thought you were comfortable with this and yourself now."

"I am... I mean, I guess I am...", Weiss said, a little insecure, "But still: this is all new to me. I mean, after all, I'm really the _guy_ in our relationship. Which is pretty weird..."

"Yeah, that must suck...", Ruby pondered, "I mean, you're the one who has to do everything." Suddenly, her voice got romantic and she continued with a warm smile.

"You're the one who has to propose to me..." At this point, Weiss was confused.

"You're the one who has to carry me over the threshold on our wedding night." At this point, a blush as red as her girlfriend's cape covered the heiress' face.

"And you're the one who has to deal with my moods and feed me cookies when I'm pregnant.", Ruby finished with a cute, innocent smile. Weiss was stunned, and touched, and another thousand emotions she couldn't quite describe.

"Ruby...", she managed to say, "I... I had no idea you're already thinking about all of this."

"Well, at least the children have to wait until we graduate. But then...", the crimsonette said and gave her girlfriend a gentle kiss on the cheek, "Why not?"

Weiss, however, was still concerned about this. There was one thing Ruby probably hadn't considered. The heiress hesitated a bit, not sure if it was a good idea to bring this up now, but then she asked the question that was on the tip of her tongue.

"But... what if our children will also have the... trait... I have?", she said. Without a Y chromosome, all of their future offspring would most likely be female. What if it was possible for them to inherit... an anomalous body part? It had made Weiss' whole life miserable until the day she and Ruby got together.

However, the crimsonette's smile just grew wider at this question. The answer was an easy one.

She gently caressed Weiss' cheek, looked into her eyes and simply replied: "Then I'm sure they will turn out just as great as you are."

"How do you always know how to say the right thing?", the heiress asked smiling as a tear of emotion came to her eye.

"Well, that's my job as your girlfriend.", Ruby answered, "And I'm pretty sure I'll be employee of the month. Well, okay, I'm going to be anyway since there's no competition."

"Stop your cheesy jokes and just kiss me, you adorable dolt.", Weiss said as she suppressed a sob and pulled her girlfriend closer. The heiress met her halfway and their lips joined in a passionate kiss. She brushed her tongue over Ruby's mouth until the crimson-haired girl opened it, meeting Weiss' slippery appendage with her own.

Both girls fell back onto the bed and started to make out deeply and lovingly. Weiss' strength had finally fully returned and she used it to climb on top of her girlfriend. Ruby hugged her tightly and pressed their sweaty bodies together as close as possible as they continued to hungrily kiss each other. The heiress wasn't opposed to this in the slightest, enjoying the closeness and almost wanted to return the embrace – but for what she had in mind, this would be a little hindering. Therefore, she wriggled herself out of the embrace, grinning inwardly as she put her plan into action.

Weiss withdrew from Ruby's lips, only to kiss her cheek, then her neck, like she had done yesterday. First, the crimsonette had no clue what her girlfriend was up to, but the mystery was soon solved. Weiss continued to trail a path of kisses down Ruby's body, over her cleavage and her toned stomach, until she completely slipped from the bed, between the younger girl's legs and right in front of her lady bits. Then, she yanked down her lover's pajama bottoms and panties in one go.

"Weiss... what are you doing?", Ruby asked with a mixture of curiosity and slight nervousness in her voice as she looked up to face her girlfriend.

"Payback time.", Weiss announced with a mischievous grin, got a hold of the crimsonette's thighs and, without a warning, she plunged her tongue right into Ruby's folds.

"Wei... GAH! Whaddahellyregontedaaah!", the younger girl slurred and fell back onto the mattress. Too much, too fast! Every nerve in her body was lit on fire the moment she felt the warm, wet and wriggling appendage inside of her. Some kind of miniature orgasm made her slender form tremble as she clawed at the bed sheets, like Weiss did before, unable to process this new kind of sensation.

Weiss' lips curled up into a small smile as she noticed Ruby's insides contract around her tongue. Apparently, the younger girl was enjoying herself greatly. But the heiress didn't want this moment to end too soon. So, after she had gotten her _revenge_ on Ruby for doing something similar to her without a warning, she withdrew her tongue and changed her strategy.

Weiss wanted to continue pleasuring her girlfriend, yet, she was taken aback for a moment. She was mesmerized by her girlfriend's slick and silky folds the crimsonette presented to her so willingly: these cute, puffy outer lips, the soft, pink insides, everything was perfect. And then this arousing scent, flowery, like Ruby's usual smell, but mixed with something... muskier.

The heiress kissed her girlfriend's womanhood softly, tracing her mouth over its beautiful outer lips. The younger girl had finally come down from her sudden high and started to hum appreciatively at Weiss' now more gentle actions. She spread her legs a little wider to allow her girlfriend better access to her quivering pussy.

After a while Weiss started to use her tongue again, not pushing inside this time but giving Ruby's folds an affectionate lick occasionally. The crimsonette started to moan a bit louder and the heiress interpreted this as she was doing something right. The white-haired girl sped up her actions a little, pushing her tongue between Ruby's labia, lapping gently through the slick passage.

Suddenly, Weiss noticed a small knob at the very top of her girlfriend's pussy. She didn't remember having seen it before, so it must've appeared over time as the younger girl's arousal had grown. Out of curiosity, she gave the nub a flick with her tongue. Ruby's reaction came immediately.

The crimsonette let out a loud "Eep!" as she threw her head back and clawed at the bed sheets again. Her mind went blank with pleasure as her girlfriend licked her clit. The sensation she just felt was almost as intense as yesterday when Weiss had hit this certain spot inside her with her dick.

Spurred on by Ruby's reaction, the white-haired girl enclosed her lips around the nub and started to suck on it gently. Her tongue flicked over it more frequently now, slowly driving the crimsonette insane. Then, Weiss got another idea. She withdrew from Ruby, only to lick her index and middle finger, using her spit as lubricant, before her lips and tongue returned to showering the crimsonette's clit with affection. In the meantime, her now wet fingers searched for Ruby's entrance and, as soon as they found it, slowly pushed inside.

The younger girl was turned into a moaning mess as she felt these many sensations. Weiss' sucking on her love button was already enough to make any conscious thought impossible but combined with the pleasure her fingers provided now it was almost too much to bear. The way they curled inside of her, stroking her inner walls, drove the younger girl closer and closer to climax. And even though she wanted feel like this forever, she knew it was about to end.

Weiss sensed that Ruby was getting close, but she didn't want to finish it like this. She wanted to taste her release like the crimsonette had done before. Therefore, she withdrew her mouth and fingers from her girlfriend, only for them to switch positions. The heiress pushed her tongue back inside of Ruby, swirling it around and lapping up her juices while she caressed the younger girl's trembling clit with her thumb, running it over the sensitive bundle of nerves at a fast pace.

Ruby arched her back and pushed her hips into her girlfriend's mouth as she felt the wet muscle wriggle around inside of her. She couldn't believe how strong Weiss' tongue was – probably from all the talking when she had scolded the younger girl over and over again over the past year. Now the crimsonette was somewhat grateful for all the lectures she had received. Being a dolt obviously had its advantages.

That was the last coherent thought Ruby was able to form in her mind before her climax hit her like a ton of bricks. Her legs flexed, her toes curled and she let out a long high-pitched moan. A second later, the build-up heat in her stomach exploded as she gushed clear fluids into the heiress' waiting mouth. Weiss lapped everything up happily, pride welling up in her chest at the fact that she had brought her girlfriend to climax in a new way she had no experience with.

Soon, Ruby's body stopped trembling and she relaxed back onto the bed. She was covered in sweat and panted heavily as she tried to regain her senses. Weiss pulled her tongue out of her girlfriend and gave her folds another gentle kiss as some kind of finishing touch. Then, the white-haired girl looked up to face her adorable partner. The barely conscious, drooling teen she saw brought a smile to her face.

* * *

"Dust... that was... have no words...", the crimsonette panted after she had found her voice back.

"Glad you liked it.", Weiss responded and crawled onto the bed to lie down next to her girlfriend. Then she embraced Ruby and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. That both of them were still naked didn't bother her anymore.

They continued to cuddle for some time, while Ruby slowly recovered. Weiss enjoyed the warmth radiating from her lover's body, the scent of sweat and roses and the younger girl's pounding heartbeat that slowly calmed down. But even though she wouldn't mind just laying there like this for the rest of the day, she knew it was impossible. This wasn't a vacation, after all.

"Shouldn't we start to get ready for the day?", the white-haired girl asked as she snuggled up closer, her actions kind of defying her words, "As much as I want to stay with you like this, we still have a mission to attend to."

"Don't worry, it's still early.", Ruby said with a sigh of exhaustion, "What time is it anyway?"

Weiss reluctantly let go of her girlfriend, grabbed her Scroll from the nightstand and checked: "Let's see. It's... eight twenty-seven."

In an instant, the younger girl's eyes snapped open in shock and, in a flurry of rose petals, she was on her feet.

"Oh, crap!", she exclaimed in panic, "I told Ash yesterday that we'll meet him at half past eight at the palisade in the south-east!"

"You did WHAT?!", Weiss yelled aghast.

"Uhhh... Dibs on the first shower!", Ruby announced, grabbed her backpack and rushed into the bathroom, leaving another trail of rose petals behind before Weiss could say another word.

"You little... you've got to be kidding me...", the heiress sighed as she looked after her girlfriend.

* * *

With a delay of _just_ twenty minutes, both girls arrived at the palisade. Ash was already there, as well as two guards. As the black-haired man saw the young Huntresses arriving, he started to tap an imaginary watch on his wrist. Ruby and Weiss immediately felt guilty.

"Took your time, eh?", he asked as they were within earshot, "Let me guess? Two girls and only one bathroom, huh?" Then he started to laugh heartily, but both girls could see in his eyes that he meant no harm. And, apparently, he wasn't mad at them for being late, either.

"Umm, yeah. Kind of...", Ruby said sheepishly and scratched the back of her head.

"Been there myself. Had two girls on my team back at Beacon.", Ash explained, "After the third "Five more minutes" me 'n my buddy Moss decided to just pee out of the window." He chuckled again and added a little nostalgic: "Got caught, three weeks detention. Ahh, good times."

"Wait. You're a Huntsman?", Weiss asked.

"Had been.", the black-haired man corrected, "Now I'm a little old to go on missions."

"A little old?", the heiress was confused, "How old exactly are..."

"Fifty-four.", Ash interrupted and a grin spread across his face as he saw Weiss' confusion grow, "Let your friend tell you the rest of my story. We have other things to do now."

Then, he got serious: "Listen here, girls. The majority of these things attacks us from the south-east. Some take different routes but about eighty percent die exactly _here_!" To emphasize his point he stomped his boot-clad foot on the barren ground.

"So I guess it's best to start your investigation there.", the guard captain continued, "Look for any kind of clues. Either these things have started to spawn here too, or they have found a way from Vytal island to the mainland. But stay vigilant. The forest has gotten a lot more dangerous. Any questions?"

"No, sir!", Ruby and Weiss replied, "We're ready to investigate."

"Alright, then.", Ash said with a firm nod, "If you find something interesting or need some help with anything, you know where to find me. Be careful."

"Thank you.", both girls responded, and Ruby added, "You too. I mean, if these things come back."

"Don't worry 'bout that, kiddo.", Ash replied with a small grin and patted his sword, "Scarlet Spike and I have this situation under control. Good luck out there and show 'em who's boss." Then he made his way back to the guardhouse.

Ruby and Weiss faced each other and gave a firm nod. It was time for departure. But just as they were about to leave the village, one of the guards addressed Ruby, a smug grin on his face.

"Watch your sexy little ass out there, cutie-pie.", the man said arrogantly, he was probably in his early twenties, "Would be a real shame if hot stuff like you would end up being Grimm fodder."

"Eeh... what?", Ruby responded confused and also with a good portion of disgust.

"Well, y'know...", he tried to continue his flirting (in his opinion) or molesting (in Ruby's) attempt but was quickly interrupted.

"Umm, excuse me?", Weiss stepped in, her eyes flaring with a rage the crimsonette had never seen before, "Did you just try to hit on MY GIRLFRIEND in, like, the most inappropriate way anyone had come up with since mankind's existence?!"

Ruby's eyes went wide. Had Weiss just called her her _girlfriend_ out in the open? Her heart made a jump.

"Umm, I was just...", the guard began, but was cut off again... harshly.

"Listen here, and listen closely.", the heiress said with her voice full of menace, "If your next four words aren't "I am terribly sorry.", the next eight will inevitably be "Oh, Dust! She kicked me in the balls!". Your turn."

"I...", the young man stammered as he saw the girl in front of him clenching her teeth and balling her fists. He had seen her fighting yesterday, so he knew he wouldn't stand a chance.

"I am terribly sorry.", he finally finished and hung his head.

"Thank you.", Weiss replied with a sugar-sweet smile, but it was totally fake. Then she turned back to Ruby and asked, "So, are we good to go?"

The younger girl needed a moment to digest what just had happened, but then she replied: "Ready when you are." The crimsonette was now grinning from ear to ear. Weiss had called her her girlfriend in front of other people. She couldn't be happier.

"Pfft. I was ready yesterday.", the heiress responded with a confident grin as well. Ruby only nodded and both girls made their way out of the village.

Weiss was trying to keep her composure, to look professional as they walked through the gate – a young Huntress that was on a mission. But inside of her mind, she was jumping, dancing, flying. She had done it. She had finally done it and it felt amazing. Ruby was her girlfriend and everyone had to know. They were a couple and anyone who dared to be mean to or tried to hit on her precious Rose Petal would face the ugly consequences.

'Morning sex and an emotional breakthrough.', Weiss thought in total bliss, 'Today is going to be a good day.'

She would be so, so wrong about this...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand another one down. Like I promised, a little more happy times for the young couple before shit's going to hit the fan. And, of course, a little more Weiss-progress as well. Maybe she really can be the girlfriend Ruby deserves, after all. For now, I'd say that she's on the right track.
> 
> Another thing: The guard who was 'flirting' with Ruby knew she was a second-semester student at Beacon, therefore presumably eighteen. He didn't know that she skipped two grades. Therefore, no molesting of underaged people was going on there, just to let you know.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and anticipate the next one. Let me know what you think of this one in the comments and stay tuned.


	21. I Don't Feel so Well...

The forest was quiet and actually pretty peaceful. There were a lot of leaf trees, which was a bit odd since they were so close to the coast. The air was full of the faint smell of moss and the twittering of birds. Sunlight stroke through the treetops and branches in both brilliant and shadowy beams. It was hard to believe that this beautiful landscape could be full of deadly Grimm.

Weiss walked down a beaten path, her posture perfect, taking in all the beauty of the forest surrounding her. Of course, she stayed vigilant, but if she and her partner wouldn't be on a mission at the moment, this whole scenario felt like they were on a couple's nice Sunday stroll. Well, _almost_ , since Ruby handled the situation a little different.

The younger girl was crouching around her girlfriend, her scythe extended into its rifle mode as she aimed it at fictional enemies. While she was doing so, she hummed the main theme of some stupid action movie she had made Weiss watch about half a year ago ( _Mission Unachievable_ , as the white-haired girl recalled). Ruby's humming was only interrupted occasionally when she made gunshot noises with her mouth, eliminating the imaginary foes she was targeting.

In the past, Weiss would've scolded the younger girl for being so childish. But now she couldn't help but smile at her antics. She didn't know why, but it was somehow relaxing seeing her girlfriend being her usual, quirky self.

"Wow... this new scope is totally awesome.", Ruby marveled as she looked around through it, "Have I ever told you how grateful I am that you bought it for me?"

"This time included, twenty-eight times.", Weiss recalled with a smile, "But I never get tired of hearing it."

"Then again, thank you sooo much.", Ruby repeated herself with a grin as well, then she continued her childish antics and her humming. Weiss only shook her head lightly as they walked down the beaten track.

But after a few more steps, Ruby came to an abrupt halt, focusing completely on what was in the sight of her scope. She gave her girlfriend a hand signal to slow down as well. Her humming stopped. Suddenly, her expression was deadly serious.

"Enemies.", she said in a stern voice, "In about eight-hundred yards, left from the path, between the boulder and the fallen tree. See them?"

"Yeah, I think so.", Weiss replied as she narrowed her eyes to look through the tree trunks and readied her rapier, "How many?"

"I see nine, could be more. The forest is pretty dense.", Ruby explained and adjusted her scope a little, "Normal Creeps, though, not these purple things."

"This should be a piece of cake.", the heiress responded confidently, "Ready?"

"Of course.", Ruby answered, "I mean, we are fifty percent of the glorious team RWBY. And they are just... _eight_ Creeps." The moment the crimson-haired girl finished her sentence she pulled the trigger.

* * *

Both girls could hear the howl of the Grimm as a bullet penetrated its head. Of course, this startled the other Creeps and they looked around to locate the source of the attack. When they finally spotted the young Huntresses, a second one was eliminated by another clean headshot. Then, the Grimm started charging.

The younger girl's assumptions were correct: The nine Creeps she had seen were only half of the pack. Not that it mattered – Ruby and Weiss were both excellent fighters. Killing about twenty Grimm, small ones at that, was a task they had done before. The only worry they had was that the fighting noises might attract more of them.

The number of enemies was already dwindling before they even got into melee range. Another shot from Ruby's scythe killed a third one while a hail of ice bolts from Weiss' Dust rapier wiped out two more. Nevertheless, the Creeps were fast in their approach and soon they had closed up to the two girls.

A glyph from Weiss stopped one of them dead in its tracks - it crashed against it like into a solid wall. A stab with the heiress' rapier ended its life a mere second later. The white-haired girl sensed an attacker to her right, so she dodged its claw as quick as lightning and prepared her counter-attack. A well-aimed slash from Myrtenaster cut the Grimm in half, its form evaporating soon after.

The Creeps never stood a chance against the mighty swings of Crescent Rose. Four made the mistake to approach the younger girl in a semicircle, only to be sliced into pieces in one strike. Another one who tried to ambush her from behind only to hit a cloud of rose petals before it was slain from behind itself. The combination of Ruby's Semblance and her dexterity in general made her a target impossible to hit for the Grimm.

After a few minutes, the fight was already over. The last Creep was propelled into the air by one of Weiss' glyphs and killed a mere moment later as one of Ruby's sniper rounds blew a hole through its torso. The whole action looked a little like some kind of weird _Grimm skeet shooting_ , but it got the job done. Before the lifeless body of the Creep hit the ground, it had already dissolved itself.

* * *

"Aaand that's that!", Ruby exclaimed proudly, "As I thought, these things were no match for us. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty amazing, don't you think?" At the last statement, she puffed out her chest.

"Your form could use some work.", Weiss stated dryly, but when she saw her girlfriend deflate slightly, she added with a reassuring smile, "But that aside, I'm always impressed by all the progress you've made compared to the time we fought together at the initiation."

"Hey, the way I killed that Nevermore back then was already totally badass.", Ruby pouted jokingly.

"Okay, I'll give you that.", Weiss admitted, "You're my adorable, little badass."

"That sounds better... a little.", the crimson-haired girl chuckled, "Anyway, I hope that all of today's fights will be that easy. Even though I doubt it."

"Let's just stay vigilant and continue our mission.", the heiress said confidently.

"Pffrrt! You sound like Professor Port.", Ruby snorted as she (unsuccessfully) tried to suppress a fit of giggles.

"Ruby Rose! Take that back immediately.", now it was Weiss' turn to pout. The crimsonette immediately stopped laughing.

"You're right, that was way too mean. I'm sorry.", Ruby apologizes and hung her head while giving her girlfriend her trademark puppy-dog eyes, "Kiss and make up?"

"You're lucky that you're so cute.", Weiss said and looked away, but her fake pout soon turned into a smile as she felt slender fingers grabbing her by the chin. Her face was turned to look into a pair of beautiful silver eyes. Soon after, she tilted her head a little, mimicking Ruby's actions, and their lips met.

It was like something one would expect in an action slash romance movie: A young couple conjoined in a kiss, in a forest full of deadly Grimm, weapons ready as they shared this somewhat surreal moment. Weiss was pretty sure her teammates had made her watch a movie with a scene like that as well, but she couldn't really remember since her mind was occupied with savoring the delicious flavor of Ruby's soft lips. How could they taste this sweet? Her girlfriend hadn't eaten sugary stuff lately. And the only thing she had ingested today was...

'Whoa! Better not think about this right now.', the heiress told herself inwardly.

Ruby's tongue gently brushed against Weiss' lips, demanding and soon gaining entry to her mouth. The wet muscle found the heiress' own immediately and started dancing around it. Without even thinking about it, Ruby's hand that wasn't holding Crescent Rose right now grabbed the white-haired girl's neck and pulled her even closer. Weiss' free hand wasn't idle either as it snuck its way around the younger girl's waist and pressed both of their bodies together.

The whole situation was getting weirder and weirder. They still tried to focus on their surroundings – this wasn't exactly a safe place, after all – but that got harder by the second. And, talking about _getting harder_ , Weiss soon felt a familiar heat pooling in her stomach, before it started to creep a little lower. The thrill of making out in such a dangerous environment only sped up her body's reaction, and suddenly the heiress felt a slight twitch in her nether regions.

'Hey, stay down! I thought we have an agreement now.', she commanded in her mind, 'Maybe... tonight... by the campfire... just Ruby and me...'

She blushed furiously at her last thought as the twitching continued. But she knew it wasn't her penis' fault since that thing was just a part of her. It was her own, lewd mind that was causing this – even though she had had her fair share of intimacy just a few hours ago! After this realization Weiss immediately broke the kiss, trying to concentrate on something that wasn't her girlfriend's naked body trembling in pleasure underneath her by the campfire.

"Uhhh... l-let's investigate this forest a little more, a-alright?", the heiress stammered.

"Y-yeah. Good idea.", Ruby seconded, also a little flustered, "That's what we're here for, after all. Not... other things." The last remark deepened the blush on both girl's faces.

The crimsonette straightened out her combat skirt while the heiress fixed her hair, then the young couple continued their investigation. But even though there suddenly was an awkward silence between them, both girls couldn't help but smile a little, hoping their partner wouldn't notice. They could still taste each other on their lips.

* * *

The journey through the forest soon required them to leave the beaten track. After all, the path was proof that this part of the woods had already been explored, apparently without any clues about the new Grimm. Since these things most certainly originated from Vytal island, Ruby and Weiss decided to check the cliffside first, therefore, they headed east. Both Huntresses-in-training were especially careful right now because the dense forest left them vulnerable to a surprise attack.

They encountered a lot of Grimm on their way, but only normal Creeps and some Beowulves, never the purple ones from yesterday. Of course, the young couple was grateful for this since these beasts were pretty dangerous, yet, it was a little odd. Did these particular Grimm hide from them? Did they only show up at a certain time? Something weird was going on here.

The forest became lighter and lighter, and soon Ruby and Weiss found themselves at the cliff. The sun already stood highly in the sky – it was probably about one or two o'clock. The smell of salt water hung strongly in the air and the screaming of seagulls could be heard again. There seemed to be no Grimm nearby, so the two girls continued to walk south.

But everything seemed to be normal around here, too: a normal ocean to their left, a normal forest to their right and a normal cliffside in front of them. Not a single trace of any kind of Grimm, let alone weird, mutated purple ones. Ruby and Weiss walked along the cliff for about an hour but nothing seemed out of order.

"This is such a waste of time.", the heiress sighed, "Wasn't there any more information about these weird creatures? I mean, we don't even have an idea what we're looking for."

"Well, maybe some kind of Grimm-ship-thingie?", Ruby asked with a shrug, "Or a radioactive rock that lets the Creeps mutate?" Weiss only scoffed at these suggestions. How were they supposed to accomplish their goal when there was little to no intel about what they were searching for exactly.

"Let's just head back to the village.", Weiss suggested, "If we follow the cliffside northwards, we'll eventually find it. Maybe we can make it back before it gets dark."

"Yeah, sounds good to me.", the younger girl agreed, "Looks like there are no clues about these weird Grimm arou... wait a minute." Then, she stepped closer to the cliff.

"Did you find something?", the heiress asked and followed her leader. After she had caught up with her, she saw it too: beneath the edge of the cliff was something that almost looked like a path. It was a descent of about twenty yards, easily climbable for a Creep, even more easily for a bigger, mutant one. Ruby had already set up a rope from their equipment and was climbing down the ledge.

"Come on, Snowflake.", she said, "Last investigation for today, then we can go back to the village."

"Okay, but be careful.", the heiress advised as she started climbing down too, "I won't pull you out of the water if you fall down."

"Yes, you would.", Ruby shot back with a grin, "Besides, I'm almost down already. Hurry up or I'll continue to look up your skirt. Now that I think about it, take your time. I'm actually enjoying the view."

"Don't say things like that!", Weiss scolded her girlfriend as she blushed furiously, "And stop peeping!" The crimson-haired girl could be really annoying sometimes. Fortunately, Weiss finished her descent soon after Ruby and pushed her skirt down afterwards, just to be sure. This earned her a giggle from her girlfriend.

"Still being shy?", the crimsonette asked, still grinning from ear to ear, "Come on, I already saw a lot more of you than your panties. By the way, cute snowflake pattern."

"Shut it already.", Weiss groaned and turned away. It felt like her face was on fire now. Suddenly, she felt strong, yet slender arms wrap around her and a warm body was pressed against her back.

"I'm just teasing you to help you loosen up...", the crimson-haired girl apologized, "But I think I went a little too far. I'm sorry, Snowflake."

"Please just try to be a little more decent in the future.", Weiss sighed but still relaxed into the embrace, "I didn't sign up for dating a smaller version of Yang. You can help me come out of my shell in other ways."

"Can't we wait for _that_ until we're back at the inn?", Ruby whispered seductively into her ear and planted a soft kiss on her girlfriend's neck.

"That's not what I meant, you dolt.", the heiress groaned in defeat, but then, on a whim, she added, "But... I think I'll take you up on this offer."

"Fine with me.", the crimsonette chirped and squeezed Weiss one last time, before letting go, "Then let's investigate this path. I'm super-motivated to finish this task as soon as possible now." She turned around again and walked down the narrow track.

'Me too...', Weiss thought with a small smile and followed Ruby as she felt a faint but pleasant warmth pool in her chest and... other areas.

* * *

The path broadened the further the young couple followed it. It was a little weird that it hadn't collapsed yet since the waves mercilessly crashed into it. Also, it wasn't as rough as one would expect, quite the contrary – it looked kind of artificial. Maybe that was one of the clues tied to these weird, purple Grimm. After a couple hundred yards, Ruby and Weiss got to a pretty big plateau, overhung by the cliff above them. No wonder that no one had found this place yet. But the plateau wasn't the most interesting thing the two young Huntresses spotted.

Right in front of them was a cave that led into the cliff and, most certainly, below it. Could it be that this cave led all the way to Vytal island? Or was it really a _cave_ in the first place? The entrance and the walls looked pretty symmetrical and therefore pretty artificial, like the path Ruby and Weiss had walked down. It was pretty dark in there but after a short observation, they could spot something that looked like some kind of supporting beam. That confirmed it: this tunnel was definitely man-made. Bingo!

"What the... this thing wasn't created naturally.", Ruby said, still impressed by the sight, "Do you... think the Grimm are coming from here?"

"Maybe.", Weiss pondered, "But we still don't know if this tunnel leads to Vytal island... or if it's even possible to build an undersea tunnel from here to the island at all. Just... who the hell built something like this? It's definitely not a mine shaft since it's so close to the sea."

"Let's have a look at the tunnel.", the younger girl suggested, "This thing definitely looks promising. But if Vytal island is really as dangerous as we were told, we better not overdo it. If we find something interesting that gives us a clue about those purple Grimm, we'll immediately head back to the village and report to Ash."

"Sounds good. Lead the way, my fearless leader.", the heiress said with a smile, impressed with Ruby's leadership skills – she had definitely become a lot more mature and thoughtful over the last year.

* * *

But the moment the students took their first step towards the tunnel, the ground suddenly started to shake. Ruby and Weiss immediately came to a halt and readied their weapons. Did they run into a trap? Were Grimm intelligent enough to set up a trap? Mere seconds later, several Creeps, all of them with the weird purple-glowing veins under their skin, emerged from the ground. They were Grimm, it was a trap... – both questions could be answered with a _yes_.

"Ambush!", Ruby exclaimed, "Get ready!"

She had barely finished her sentence before the first of the approximately thirty Grimm attacked her. She dodged the beast's claw, turned around and fired a round in its back. As expected, the Creep exploded into caustic, purple mist but, fortunately, Ruby stood too far away to get hit by it. The other Grimm suddenly stopped dead in their tracks; they probably hadn't expected such fierce resistance and had relied on the element of surprise. Therefore, they slowly started circling both girls, waiting for a moment of carelessness to strike.

"Ruby! We're surrounded!", Weiss noticed alarmed as the grip on her rapier grew tighter.

"Awesome! Now we can fire in any direction!", Ruby simply responded.

"Now's not the time for jokes.", the heiress scolded her, "Do you have a plan?"

"There's no point in fighting all of these things.", the crimsonette pondered, "I suggest we kill the ones in our way, then we get back to the village and tell the city guard about the tunnel."

"Sounds good to me.", Weiss replied. It was probably the best to save time and effort on the job. They'd kill the Grimm blocking the path back to the cliffside, head back to the village and report the results of their investigation.

"Okay, my love. Let's show them who's boss.", Ruby said determinedly.

"Shouldn't be a problem at all.", Weiss responded, blushing a little at the way the crimsonette had just addressed her. But then she heard something weird.

"Oh my gosh! I'm terribly sorry, sweetheart. You're my love, too.", Ruby said soothingly, "But she's my girlfriend now and I really love her. We... we're going to make this work somehow, I promise."

At first, Weiss was confused about her girlfriend's weird monologue, but then she realized that the younger girl was talking to her scythe.

"Ruby! Focus!", the heiress scolded her again, "You can fix your _relationship_ with your weapon later!" How could this girl be a reliable leader in one moment, and suddenly transform back into a complete dolt mere seconds later?

"Oh, sorry, Weiss.", the crimsonette responded and retook her combat stance, "Okay. Let's try to break through the blockade and then we..."

She couldn't even finish her sentence because another earthquake interrupted her. The plateau was shaking violently, several pieces of it crashing into the sea to their right, as the ground suddenly opened to release something Ruby and Weiss had never imagined to see, right in front of their way back. Their blood ran cold.

* * *

The monster that emerged from the ground looked a little bit like a Deathstalker, but both Huntresses immediately spotted various differences. The most obvious one was that it was bigger than a normal Deathstalker. It had eight legs and, instead of pincers, it had two gigantic mantis-like claws, the blades razor-sharp. Like the Creeps, its black skin had a purplish glow to it, even its stinger was dark purple. Its mandibles were jagged and the mouth between them drooled a weird, also purple fluid that corroded the ground wherever it landed.

"Oh, shoot!", Ruby exclaimed, "Now this is bad."

"Bad?! This is horrible!", Weiss yelled back, "This is probably the biggest of these mutated Grimm anyone had ever seen! And it's blocking the only exit!"

Unfortunately, the heiress was right. With an unclimbable cliff to their left and another one down to the ocean on their right, the only way back up was through this monster and its minions. Since both girls had no idea where the tunnel behind them led to, it would be sheer suicide to use it to retreat. They had no other choice but to fight.

"Okay, new plan.", Ruby announced, "First, we get rid of the Creeps, so they won't bother us anymore, then we fight this huge... whatever it is."

"Alright, let's start with the ones behind us to avoid being caught off guard.", Weiss suggested and was met with a nod from her girlfriend. Then, the two Huntresses started their attack.

The monsters behind them never stood a chance. Maybe they were a little stronger and, if you could say that about Grimm, smarter than their normal counterparts, but they were just Creeps, after all. Only the acid explosions from their corpses were somewhat dangerous, but the young couple had already learned how to avoid getting hit by them by using their Semblances.

Soon, Ruby and Weiss had cut the number of their enemies in half. They fought amazingly well together – it was almost like they knew what the other one was thinking as if there was a mental connection between them now. Their performance today even surpassed the one from yesterday, and back then they had help from the city guard.

The other half of the Creeps wasn't that easy to kill, mostly because the two girls now had to watch out for this huge Deathstalker mutant. The range of its huge claws and stinger made it difficult to approach his remaining minions in close combat, so Ruby and Weiss relied on the ranged abilities of their weapons to take them down. As they shot the smaller Grimm, they noticed that any purple acid that splashed onto the other monsters didn't affect them in the slightest. Both girls made a mental note to tell Ash about this fact as well if he didn't know already.

However, the giant monster barely moved as the Huntresses got rid of the last Creeps, almost like it didn't want them to sneak past and get away. Not that this was an option anyway since the young couple knew they had to climb a fair distance to make it to the top of the cliff and were pretty vulnerable at that time. If they wanted to make it out of here alive, this horrendous thing had to die as well.

But Ruby and Weiss were determined not to end here. They had fought a lot of dangerous things before, so this situation wasn't new to them. All they needed was a battle plan, then everything would be fine.

After another short examination of the beast, Ruby spoke up: "If this thing is anything like a Deathstalker, it's pretty agile and able to quickly turn around. But there are two of us, so I think one of us can get the upper hand on it if the other one distracts it."

"Since you are the one with the humongous scythe, I'll be the distraction and you finish it off once there is an opening for an attack.", Weiss responded, "Just be careful and only strike when you're certain that your attack will hit."

"Don't worry, I got that.", the younger girl replied, " _You_ better be careful. You have the more dangerous job."

"I'll manage.", the heiress reassured her girlfriend. Then, they put their plan into action.

Weiss started charging at the beast, trying to force it to let its guard down, while Ruby approached it more carefully, waiting for an opportunity to strike. As the Grimm saw the heiress head its way, it readied itself and, as soon as she was within reach, swung one of its claw at her. Weiss dodged this attack gracefully and tried to slash her rapier at the other claw, but the creature's stinger prevented this. The white-haired girl used a well-placed glyph to block it and dive rolled further around her opponent, hoping that the Grimm would follow her movement. As it did, it was Ruby's turn to attack.

The crimsonette used her Semblance to dash towards the beast, her scythe ready. But just before she was about to strike at its back, it quickly spun around 180 degrees and tried to hit her with its claw. Ruby managed to block the attack with her weapon but was pushed back again. Weiss tried to get the monster's attention once more, succeeded soon after, but as her girlfriend saw another opportunity to land a hit, the Grimm could counter as well.

Similar approaches led to similar results. It was almost like this thing had eyes in the back of its head. Ruby and Weiss retreated a few yards, trying to catch their breaths, while the Grimm still blocked the path back to the top of the cliff.

"It's no use.", Ruby said with a stern expression, "It's like this creature knows every move I'm going to make."

"I'll try getting a little closer, maybe then this thing will completely focus on me.", Weiss suggested, "If so, you may have a better chance to hit it."

"Okay, we'll try. But watch out for those claws.", the crimsonette advised, concerned about her girlfriend. This Grimm was a pretty tough opponent.

"Roger that!", Weiss responded and stormed off again, while Ruby got ready.

The heiress approached the monster the same way like the first time, dodging its first claw and trying to strike at the second. Again, the Grimm tried to stab her with its stinger, but Weiss had expected this and avoided being hit with a front handspring. Now she was right in front of this monster's face. Everything was going according to plan, so she readied her rapier. Then, something bizarre happened.

The mandibles of the Grimm parted and it spewed a wide cone of purple acid at the heiress. The young Huntress, totally caught by surprise, barely managed to cast a glyph in front of her to shield herself from the attack. Luckily, the venom wasn't able to soak through it. Yet, the spew had just been a feint, and while the white-haired girl was busy fending it off, she didn't notice that the Grimm struck at her with one of its claws again. When Weiss saw this, she tried to reposition her defensive glyph, but it was already too weak to fully absorb the attack. The moment it got hit, it shattered like glass and the following impact of the monster's claw sent her flying.

Her Aura had absorbed most of the blow, but it still hurt and she was pretty disoriented. Therefore, she didn't notice that the beast was approaching her once more, its stinger ready to deliver the finishing blow. When the heiress finally regained her senses completely, she knew she probably wouldn't be fast enough to dodge this attack or to cast a glyph in time. To shocked to do anything else, she just closed her eyes.

"Weiss! Watch out!"

The impact of the stinger never came. Instead, the heiress felt a pair of arms that embraced her and a warm body that was pressed into her own. The sweet scent of roses filled her nostrils and as Weiss opened her eyes, she saw a few stray rose petals dancing in front of her. Ruby had come to save her.

But then, her expression of relief changed into one of horror as she saw the stinger of the Grimm embedded in her girlfriend's back. Ruby hadn't carried them to safety. There had been no time for this. She had just used her body as a shield. The younger girl's arms suddenly went slack and her red Aura flickered pathetically one last time, before it faded completely.

Weiss could only stare in shock as the crimsonette was lifted into the air, still pierced by the stinger and her body motionless, before the beast flung her into the cliff a few yards away. Ruby crashed into the solid stone wall and fell to the ground. It was then that the heiress found her voice back.

"RUBY! NO!!!", she shrieked terrified and was back on her feet immediately. With the help of a few glyphs, she was next to her girlfriend in no time. Weiss tried to shake her awake, but her girlfriend didn't move a muscle.

"Ruby, please, no... that can't be happening.", the heiress sobbed, tears streaming down her face, "Please, Ruby... Please say something. Anything!"

Suddenly, the crimson-haired girl's body started to twitch. Her hands clawed into the barren ground as she pushed herself to her knees and elbows. Her breathing sounded like a death rattle, yet, her reaction to this whole situation was pretty... odd.

"Okay, now I'm... fucking angry!", she said with a snarl.

Weiss couldn't even react to her girlfriend's menacing statement because a mere second later, Ruby's body exploded into a flurry of rose petals. The heiress needed a moment to scan the place for her, but then she spotted her, right where the younger girl had dropped Crescent Rose when she had come to her rescue. Now the crimsonette snatched the heavy weapon from the ground as if it was weightless and fired a shot into the Grimm's side to get its attention back.

"You wanna mess with me and my girlfriend?!", Ruby yelled at the beast, "I'll fucking cut you into pieces!" Then, she used her Semblance to charge at it.

Weiss couldn't believe her own eyes as she saw what happened next. The Grimm tried to slash at her girlfriend with one of its claws, but Ruby dodged it effortlessly. A swing of Crescent Rose right to the joint of the limb cut it off cleanly, causing the beast to scream in agony. Apparently, the crimsonette was determined to carry out her threat. Purple liquid, almost like blood, squirted from the wound but the younger girl simply made a step to the side to avoid getting hit by it. Another swing of her scythe, accelerated by a shot, severed two of the Grimm's legs on the other side of its body. This imbalance, combined with the pain, caused the beast to collapse.

Ruby, however, just used her Semblance again to avoid being crushed under it. Now she stood right in front of the Grimm. She completely unfolded her scythe and slammed the blade into her enemy's skull. And even though this could've been the finishing blow already, the enraged crimsonette wasn't pleased with that yet. With an aerial, she jumped on top of the monster's head and ripped Crescent Rose out of it. Then, with one mighty swing, she cut off its stinger, pierced it with her scythe midair, making a makeshift hammer out of her weapon in the process, and used it to drive said stinger into the Grimm's already smashed skull, before jumping off the wailing and trembling beast.

Weiss watched everything in utter disbelief. Mere seconds ago, Ruby had been hit by a sublethal blow, and now she had killed a gigantic Grimm that gave the two of them a hard time all by herself almost effortlessly. The heiress couldn't take her eyes of this girl that folded up her scythe now and put it back into the harness on her back while the mutilated monster evaporated behind her, its corpse still leaking corroding, purple fluids.

* * *

But then, the crimsonette dropped to one knee. Again, worry got a hold of Weiss once more and she immediately rushed to her girlfriend's side. The younger girl was breathing heavily and cold sweat was covering her forehead.

"Ruby! Are you alright?", the heiress asked concerned, "Are you hurt? Do you need medical help?"

"No, I'm fine...", Ruby panted, "Just tired, is all."

"Thank Dust... I'm so glad you're okay.", Weiss sighed relieved and wiped a few stray tears from her face, "But... how did you... I mean, how could you..." She looked back at the slowly dissolving Grimm corpse and Ruby suddenly understood what her girlfriend was trying to ask.

"I... Actually, I don't know.", the crimsonette admitted, but then she added with a weak grin, "But it was pretty cool, right? After I came to myself again, I felt a rush of adrenaline... or something... and then... well, it just happened. I don't know why, but my body acted completely on its own and suddenly I was all _Hooowaaah! Witchaaa!_ " She continued to make some more karate-style poses and noises but was soon interrupted by Weiss, who grabbed her hands.

"Umm... thanks for protecting me.", the heiress said and looked at the ground in shame. If she hadn't been so clumsy, none of this would've happened.

"Nah, don't sweat it.", Ruby simply responded, then she added jokingly, "I was just being selfish. If something happens to you, I'd have to look for a new Weiss, and they are pretty rare." The heiress rolled her eyes at her girlfriend's childish joke, but couldn't help but chuckle a bit as well at her attempt to lighten the mood.

"You're such a dolt... sometimes.", she said softly and cupped the younger girl's cheek gently.

"But I'm your dolt... forever.", Ruby replied with a grin. Then, without a warning, Weiss threw herself at her, pulling her into a tight embrace, as the emotions overwhelmed her.

"Please don't do something like that ever again.", the heiress sobbed, "I thought I was going to lose you."

"I promise I'll be more careful next time.", the younger girl whispered, "But I can't promise you I won't risk my life anymore if there's no other option to protect you."

"If I hadn't been so useless back there you wouldn't have gotten hurt.", Weiss continued and buried her face in the crook of Ruby's neck, "It's all my fault."

"No, it's not. We both had no idea what this thing was capable of.", Ruby said soothingly and started to caress her girlfriend's back, "Please don't cry, everything's fine now."

They stayed in their embrace for a while until Weiss had calmed down. Her crying slowly subsided while Ruby held her tight to show her that she had nothing to worry about anymore. They soon relaxed in each other's arms, and after a few more minutes of relieved cuddling (and with a soft kiss to top the moment off), they finally parted.

"Alrighty then. Let's head back to the village and report everything we saw.", Ruby suggested, "Then we can get some rest, too. I'm still pretty dizzy from hitting this wall earlier."

"Do you need help standing up?", Weiss asked concerned as she pulled her girlfriend up with her carefully.

"No, it's okay. Just a little groggy, but not hurt.", Ruby responded and stretched herself after she was back on her feet. A joint creaked somewhere. "Ow... okay, maybe a little hurt.", the crimsonette added, "But I can walk."

"Back at the village, you can take a nice, long shower. That'll help you relax.", the heiress suggested, "I'm going to tell Ash everything he needs to know, so you can take a break for today."

"But what if I need help washing myself? I was hit pretty hard, after all, and my muscles are sore.", the younger girl said, trying to sound and look innocent, but Weiss knew exactly what she was implying.

"I'll hurry up and then I can help you... showering.", she said, trying to copy Ruby's innocent act, but blushed nonetheless. This caused her girlfriend to giggle.

"You still aren't pretty good at this, are you, Snowflake?", Ruby asked as she tried to suppress her chuckling.

"Shut it, you dolt, or you can towel yourself off alone.", Weiss shot back with a challenging grin.

"Sorry, I didn't say anything...", the crimsonette responded with a smile and a wink.

* * *

They walked back the path they had come from and climbed up to the top of the cliff. Ruby needed a little longer this time, but it really seemed that she wasn't wounded at all, only a little sore. Weiss had no idea how this was possible, but she didn't question it. She was just happy that her girlfriend was okay, she didn't care if it had been pure luck or whatever.

They headed north along the cliffside, back to the village. The sounds of the ocean were calming and a light breeze played with their hair. The sun was slowly setting; it would probably be dark by the time they would arrive, but on the way to the tunnel this area seemed to be safe. And even if something would attack them, it would probably be a pack of stray Creeps, nothing to worry about. What could possibly go wrong now?

Suddenly, Ruby slowed her steps and fell behind a little. The moment Weiss noticed this, she turned around to face her girlfriend.

"Ruby? Is... something the matter?", she asked.

The crimsonette had come to a complete halt now. She tried to look Weiss in the eyes, but for some reason, her vision was all blurry. Her body felt cold and heavy, and her head started spinning. What the hell was going on now?

"Weiss...", she croaked out, "I don't feel so well..." With these words and a cough, she fell to her knees and toppled over to her side. Before the crimson-haired girl hit the ground, she was out cold.

"Oh my gosh! Ruby!", the heiress yelled and rushed to her side once again. She tried to shake her girlfriend awake, but this time the younger girl didn't respond at all. What had happened to her so suddenly?

"RUBY?!", Weiss tried again as her eyes started to tear up.

Again, nothing...

  


"RUUUBYYY!!!!!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, my... this relationship is starting to become a bad luck charm for both of them. First Weiss, now Ruby... next time both of them, or what? Well, I guess you have to wait for the next chapter to find out.
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you think of this one. It took a little longer to write because I'm not that fond of writing fight scenes and I don't want them to sound too repetitive, so I had to do a little research. But, in my defense, this thing is pretty long, too. What happened to the cute 2-3k word chapters I could easily finish within a week?
> 
> Okay, I'm also a tad busy now writing the next chapter of my other story 'RWBY M.D.' It started out as a side project (still is, at the moment), but now it had caught my interest as well. I promise I won't slack off on this story, though. After all, we're just getting started.
> 
> Please leave a comment and, as always, stay tuned.


	22. Rise and Shine

'Where does this beeping come from? Urgh... let me sleep, damn it. I had such a nice dream...'

Ruby awoke to a weird, rhythmical electronic noise, most certainly coming from some kind of machine. Nevertheless, she tried to block it out as she turned around and buried her face in the pillow. She didn't care what thing caused this annoying sound – how dared it to interrupt the lovely dream she had had just a few seconds ago:

She had been a world-famous Huntress, renowned everywhere she went. She was just coming home from an incredibly dangerous mission, but for her, wiping out a whole nest of King Taijitus was a piece of cake. As she opened the door to her home, the smell of freshly baked cookies greeted her. In the small, but cozy kitchen stood her beautiful wife Weiss. She wore an apron... and nothing else underneath. As soon as the white-haired girl had spotted her Rose Petal, she quickly approached her and pulled her into a passionate kiss. Weiss then whispered something about how glad she was that her hero was finally back, that she had awaited her already and that she had drawn a bath for them to take together – but Ruby barely listened to her while she hungrily nibbled on the white-haired girl's neck and tried to undo the knot on the apron's rear side, her hands trembling with desire...

As the crimsonette tried to remember her dream and, of course, started to fantasize about what probably would've come next, the annoying beeping sound got a little faster. She let out a grunt and came to the conclusion that it was futile to try going back to sleep. As she opened her eyes, she was met with a pristine white ceiling.

"Where the fuck am I?", the Ruby asked herself aloud but was immediately surprised by her rude choice of words. Also, her voice sounded kinda muffled.

As the crimson-haired girl brought a hand to her face to rub her eyes, she noticed that something covered her mouth and nose. She got rid of it and found out that it had been an oxygen mask. It was now that she sat up and looked around: The beeping came from a heart monitor and she had an IV access in her arm... Ruby suddenly realized that she was lying in a bed at Beacon's medical ward.

Then, she remembered everything: The mission, this gigantic, mutated monster... and collapsing on her way back to the village. How the hell did she get here? The only person that was with her that time had been... Ruby's eyes immediately scanned the room for her girlfriend but, much to her disappointment, she found it completely empty.

"Hello?!", she yelled, "Is anybody there?" No response at all. She tried again but was met with the same results. Apparently, she was completely alone.

'Damn...', the crimsonette sighed inwardly, 'I guess I have to find out what had happened myself.'

She felt well enough to look for a doctor or nurse on her own. Actually, she didn't feel sick at all. No pain, no vertigo, no nausea, nothing! She just had to think about what to do with all this medical equipment and she was good to go. The oxygen mask already laid beside her, she didn't need it anyway. Okay, pulling out the IV access was probably a bad idea, but the infusion hung on a mobile IV pole – she would just take it with her. The only thing left was the heart monitor, but this device was for documentation only, right? How bad could it be if she left this bulky thing behind?

Terrible idea! The moment she pulled the two clasps from her fingers, the machine and its beeping sounds went berserk.

"Oh, no no no no no!", Ruby whined as she looked for a switch to turn it off, "Shut up already. Nobody here's dying... Stupid medical thingie."

A mere moment later, the door busted open and two doctors and two nurses rushed into the room, laden with all kinds of medical equipment. But the moment they saw Ruby's fight against the heart monitor, they stopped dead in their tracks. Instead of saying something, they just looked at their patient with a mixture of disbelief and annoyance.

It was Ruby who broke the awkward silence: "Umm... hi?"

* * *

After the incident with the heart monitor, Ruby was informed that it was currently Friday. She had been in this hospital for almost three days (the staff was pretty surprised how well the girl reacted to the fact that she had been out for so long). The doctors also told her that her partner had brought her back to the evacuation point after she had collapsed, then Beacon had sent an airship to pull them out. After the medical staff had updated the crimson-haired girl on everything, they started their examinations.

Various doctors and nurses ran tests on her for two hours or so: transesophageal echoes, exercise ECGs, pulmonary function tests and a lot of other things. But the results were beyond belief. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Quite the contrary – this girl was in top shape. She had just awoken from a coma and now she was completely healthy.

"C'mon... let me go already.", Ruby whined, "All of your examinations had shown that I'm totally fine."

At least the crimsonette was allowed to send a text to her teammates to inform them that she was awake again. If she had spotted her Scroll on the nightstand a few minutes sooner, before she had messed with the heart monitor, she probably could've avoided a lot of trouble. But there was no use crying over spilled milk. She had told her teammates to come to the medical ward, bring her a fresh set of clothes (she stressed the importance of her cape in that matter) and, hopefully, get her out of there.

The doctors were just finishing the final tests when there was a knock on the door. A moment later, it opened a gap and Yang carefully stuck her head into the room. Everyone inside turned around to face her in response.

"Umm... excuse me. May I come in?", the blonde asked politely.

"Of course, Ma'am. I think we have everything we need.", one of the doctors responded, "But Miss Rose still isn't allowed to leave yet. We'll come back soon after we have evaluated these results, compared them to the rest of the data we've gathered over the last few days and discussed how to proceed." After the explanation, the man in his white coat gave his entourage a wave, then they left the room.

"Thank Dust you're okay!", Yang practically yelled at Ruby the moment the door had fallen shut and rushed to her bedside, "I was worried sick about you, baby sis." She needed all her willpower to keep herself from crushing her sister in a bear hug. She didn't know whether or not the younger girl had completely recovered yet, after all.

"Don't worry, it takes a lot more to kill me.", Ruby reassured the blonde, "Anyway, I texted the whole team. Are you the only one who came to see me?"

"No, Blake's with me. She's waiting outside.", Yang responded, "But she thought it would be better to send me in first because she didn't know if you were... well, decent."

"And where's Weiss?", Ruby asked further with a hint of annoyance in her voice. When the heiress had been hospitalized, the crimsonette had never left her side. Now she was lying in a hospital bed and her girlfriend was nowhere to be seen. Admittedly, Weiss had brought her back to Beacon after she had collapsed, but the younger girl had done the same for her back in Vale. So much for give-and-take – Ruby was getting angry. However, what her sister said to answer her question threw her off guard.

"We practically had to drag her out of your room a few hours ago.", the blonde began, "She had been awake since she brought you to the medical ward with the medics three days ago. Probably even longer since I have no idea whether she slept on the airship ride from your mission back to Beacon or not. She looked totally miserable."

The crimson-haired girl immediately felt bad for her thoughts and visibly deflated in her hospital bed. Of course, Weiss had stayed by her side for as long as she could – how could Ruby have ever doubted her? And after three days of sleep deprivation, it had probably been the best to send her back to the dorm room. A nap at the side of a hospital bed clearly wouldn't be able to fix this.

"She hadn't left to eat either. If Blake and I hadn't brought her some food from the cafeteria, she probably would've starved to death... or died of thirst first.", Yang continued, "You see... I might've been not... very fond of you dating her at first... but now that I see how much she cares about you, I... I think she's probably the right one for you."

Even though Ruby was immensely happy to hear that from her sister, it didn't improve her mood. She still felt like garbage, even worse now that she had heard the rest of Weiss' suffering. Why had she gotten that angry so fast in the first place anyway? That totally wasn't like her. But this wasn't the time to lament. She forced the bad thoughts out of her head and answered her sister.

"Thank you, Yang.", she responded, trying not to sound too gloomy, "I really appreciate it."

"Nah, don't sweat it. But don't tell the Ice Que... Weiss that I said that.", Yang began, correcting herself mid-sentence. That girl had brought her sister back after all.

"Why?", Ruby asked confused.

"Well, I guess it could be of advantage some time if she's still a little afraid of me.", the blonde explained with a wink. Just when Ruby wanted to retort something, the door opened again and one of the doctors from earlier entered.

"Excuse me, Miss Rose.", he began, "We have evaluated your test results. It seems like you are perfectly healthy. There aren't any medical issues for us to treat, nor have there ever been. We have no explanation why you had been unconscious for such a long period of time."

"Well, but that's still good news, isn't it?", Ruby asked, "Anyway, can I go now? I want to get out of this gown and I'm hungry as hell after being drip-fed for so long." Her eyes wandered to the IV in her arm.

"If it was up to me, I would keep you in here for some further medical observation.", the doctor explained, "But we have received a message from Professor Ozpin to release you if you want to leave that badly. But even if so, you have to come back every few days for a few tests to check on your state of health. We will send you a message a day in advance."

"Fine with me.", Ruby said, even though she was a bit confused why the headmaster had shown interest in her, but she tried not to mind it, "So... does this mean I _can_ go now?"

"Well, you're technically free to go, but I would suggest that you...", the man in the white coat began but was immediately interrupted.

"Awesome!", Ruby cheered and jumped out of bed, almost ripping the IV access out of her arm, or knocking over the IV pole – whatever would've given in first, "Yang, do you have my stuff?"

"Sure thing, sis.", the blonde said and put a set of clothes on the end of the bed. The cape that sat on top brought a sparkle to the crimsonette's eyes. Yang had always understood her weird obsessions and did as requested. It was kind of weird, but without her cape, she felt kind of... naked. There was only one person that she was willing to share it with.

"I guess I won't be able to change your mind.", the doctor sighed and gestured the girl to sit down, so he could remove the IV. After the needle was pulled out of the crimsonette's arm, the wound closed itself almost immediately thanks to her Aura. The man stressed the importance of the upcoming checkups one more time, then he excused himself and left the room.

"Umm... Yang? Could you leave as well so I can change?", Ruby asked, "Or do I have to go to the bathroom?"

"What's the matter with you?", Yang asked nonchalantly, "I saw you naked a thousand times already. We even used to take baths together all the time when we were younger."

"But we aren't anymore. I'm a grown woman now.", Ruby explained, and added quietly, "There's only one person allowed to see me naked now."

"What was that?", the brawler asked again and raised an eyebrow. Fortunately, she hadn't completely understood what her sister had been mumbling.

"Uhh... nothing.", the younger girl quickly responded with a slight blush, "Anyway, if you really want to stay, I'm going to the bathroom."

"Don't worry, I was just kidding.", Yang said with a chuckle, "But it's nice to know that I still can get the _grown woman_ all flustered that easily. I'll wait with Blake outside. Hurry up." Then, the blonde took her leave. Her sister looked after her, a pouting expression on her face. Yang could really be annoying sometimes.

* * *

Ruby looked at herself in the small bathroom mirror. Her face didn't look tired at all – admittedly, she had slept for about 60 hours. Her hair was pretty tousled, even more than usual, but that was nothing a shower couldn't fix. Her combat gear was most certainly in need of a wash too, but, fortunately, Yang had brought her her school uniform. Then, the crimsonette took a look at her cloak.

As expected, it had seen better days. It was pretty dusty and more wrinkled than usual. The tattered bottom was especially dirty, but the young girl didn't care. She loved it and would always wear it no matter what. Then, she noticed a new tear in its back. First, the crimsonette frowned at that – hadn't this piece of cloth she held so dear suffered enough already? But then she reconsidered. This was the spot the stinger of this mutant beast had penetrated, the place of the hit she had taken to protect Weiss. It wasn't a tear, it was a proof of her love for the heiress. The frown immediately turned into a smile.

Ruby checked her appearance one last time, then she was ready to face the world again.

* * *

When the crimsonette left her room, she was greeted by Yang and Blake. As soon as the cat Faunus spotted her leader, she immediately pulled her into a hug. The black-haired girl might be a little reserved regarding her emotions but, of course, she truly cared for her friends.

"Thank goodness you are alright.", she said relieved, "You had me worried sick for the last few days."

"Don't worry. I didn't feel like dying that day.", Ruby joked to lighten the mood.

"That's good to hear.", Blake responded with a grin and let go of her friend, "Oh, Weiss really couldn't make it because..."

"It's alright. Yang already told me.", the crimson-haired girl said, "Thank you for taking care of her. Otherwise, she probably would've collapsed soon, too."

"Yeah, I think so.", the Faunus pondered, "Yang and I barely managed to carry her back to the dorm room because she had been struggling to escape all the time; yes, we had to carry her. We even considered calling team JNPR for reinforcements. Seems like Weiss _really_ loves you."

"The feeling's mutual.", Ruby simply responded.

"We know.", Yang remarked, "Weiss has told us what happened on your mission... the attack from this Deathstalker mutant. And as much as I admire this caring side of you, NEVER do something that dangerous ever again."

"That's not really an option in our profession, don't you think?", Ruby asked and raised an eyebrow, "Even though I still have a lot to learn. It was my fault that we screwed up this mission, after all."

"Well, Weiss has also told us that you have found a clue about these weird Grimm, so... technically... the mission was a success, right?" the blonde said, "Would've been better without any casualties, though."

"By the way, the staff still wasn't able to contact your dad.", Blake suddenly addressed Yang, "As you said, he's probably on a mission at the moment and not teaching in Patch."

"Wait, you called Dad?", Ruby asked surprised.

"Of course.", Yang responded matter-of-factly.

"B-but why?", the crimsonette continued.

"Make a guess.", the blonde said in a scolding tone, "You were in a _coma_ , Rubes."

"Well... I'm alright again.", Ruby said hastily, "You can tell the doctors they don't need to call him anymore."

"Do they not get along well?", Blake asked Yang with a mixture of curiosity and concern.

"No way. Our dad's awesome.", the blonde answered, then she turned back to her sister, "What's that all about, sis?"

"Umm... you see... you know how Dad gets when he hears about stuff like that.", the crimsonette explained, "He'll just worry unnecessarily and yell at the teachers for sending me on such a dangerous mission and stuff..." However, as she rambled she started to blush slightly. Therefore, Yang didn't believe her one bit.

"Ruby? The real reason.", the brawler demanded.

"That is the... well... ugh, fine.", the younger girl sighed and hung her head in defeat, "You know I can't keep a secret from him. So if he shows up here, and there's Weiss and... I just don't know how to tell him yet. And I also don't know how he'd react. What if he thinks I'm weird or if he's... disappointed in me or something?"

"So that's what this is about.", Yang sighed as well and put a hand on her sister's shoulder, "Ruby, look at me." The crimsonette complied.

"Ruby... there's no way Dad would be disappointed in you for dating a girl. We don't live in the Middle Ages anymore.", the blonde continued, "If anything, he'll be happy for you because you've found someone you hold so dear and who feels the same about you. No matter who you like or what you're going to do with your life, Dad... and I... will always support you and your decisions. And if Weiss acts a little less... _Schnee_... and more like when she's around you when they meet I'm pretty sure he will like her too."

Slowly, the worry faded from Ruby's eyes. She still wasn't fond of the idea to tell her dad about her relationship with another girl, a girl with a really bizarre secret at that (but revealing this most certainly wasn't something for the first get-together). Yet, Yang's words had calmed her down a bit. However, her sister wasn't finished.

"But...", the blonde finally said, "...if you're really _that_ uncomfortable with telling him so soon, I can tell the doctors that they don't need to call him anymore. I'll just send him a text with a whitewashed version of the story and tell him that you are alright. Big sis has your back."

"You'd do that? Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou!", Ruby chirped and tackled her sister into a hug, "And I promise I'll tell Dad as soon as I've talked with Weiss about this and have come up with a plan."

"Alright, little Red.", Yang croaked out and tried to wriggle herself out the embrace that almost rivaled her owns, "But better do it sooner than later. He'll probably be pretty pissed if you leave him in the dark until he gets his wedding invitation."

"That would be a really cool plot twist for a novel, though.", Blake remarked.

"Okay, I'll try to come up with something.", Ruby said, "But Weiss and I are together for a bit over a month now. Meeting the parents can wait a little longer, I guess." The thought of her meeting her girlfriend's parents, the well-renowned and sophisticated Schnee family, crossed her mind, but she quickly shook it out of her head. That would be a totally different matter altogether.

"So, what now? Cafeteria?", Yang suggested. She hadn't forgotten that her sister had said she was starving. However, Ruby apparently had changed her mind.

"In a few.", the younger girl explained, "There's something I want to do first."

* * *

As Ruby entered the dorm room with her teammates in tow, the first thing she noticed was that it was pretty dark. Apparently, Yang and Blake had closed the curtains, so Weiss could get the rest she was in dire need of. The crimson-haired girl didn't dare to open them, nor did she flip the light switch. She didn't need to anyway since she could easily see the person she was looking for in the bunk beneath her own with the back turned to her because the girl was completely dressed in white.

Weiss laid on the side and faced the wall, still in her pretty dirty combat outfit from the mission – she didn't even take off her boots. Her hair was a mess, too: some of the silky, white strands had come loose from her off-center ponytail, some of them were pretty tangled, and some were even colored an earthy-brown hue. Ruby couldn't see her face, but the crimsonette expected dark circles under her eyes and her face covered in wrinkles of fatigue... and worry.

But the younger girl was sure she could do at least something about the latter. Therefore, she carefully approached her girlfriend, climbed into her bed and gently hugged her from behind. As soon as Weiss felt a presence next to her, she jolted awake.

"Shhh, Snowflake.", Ruby soothed her as she felt her girlfriend's body tense up, "I don't mean any harm."

"Ruby!", the heiress exclaimed the moment she recognized the voice and wanted to turn around, but her girlfriend tightened her embrace.

"Relax. I just woke you up so you know that I'm totally fine again.", the crimsonette whispered, "Umm... sorry about that, by the way. Now go back to sleep again, please. I heard you had some rough days, too."

Weiss noticeably relaxed into Ruby's embrace when she heard that her partner was alright. The heiress' worries slowly faded as she tried to snuggle up even closer to her bedmate. She was way too tired to ask Ruby any further questions, like how she was able to recover so quickly or if she was still feeling any pain or discomfort. Weiss was just happy that her girlfriend was awake again and apparently in an at least decent condition.

"I'm so glad that you are okay.", the white-haired girl breathed, her voice sounded a little hoarse, "I was so..."

"Shhh...", Ruby interrupted her again, "I just came here to tell you that I'm fine so you can stop worrying, but you have to get some rest yourself now. I'm going to the cafeteria to get something real to eat, for a change, and you stay here and sleep. But I'll leave you something, so you don't think this was just a dream."

The crimsonette slowly released Weiss from the embrace, then she unclasped her cloak and covered her girlfriend's body with it.

"Sleep well, my little Snowflake.", Ruby whispered tenderly, "I'll be back as soon as I can, so you won't wake up alone." Weiss just gave a hum in return, wrapped herself in the cloak and took a deep breath through her nose.

"Mmm... Roses...", she mumbled barely audible, then she drifted back to sleep. The crimsonette had heard her soft murmurs though, and it brought a smile to her face.

"Okay, we can go to the cafeteria now.", Ruby whispered to Yang and Blake, "I don't know about you, but I'm on the verge of starving." A loud rumble of her stomach confirmed that.

"I could go for a snack as well.", the cat Faunus pondered. Yang, however, had something else to add to the conversation.

"Aww... what you did just now was so sweet of you, sis. It almost gave me diabetes.", the blonde said with a smug grin.

"Urgh... stop your teasing, Yang.", Ruby sighed and left the dorm room.

"Tough crowd, huh?", Blake said to her partner a little taunting, then she followed her leader through the door.

"Come on, I'm funny.", Yang huffed as she tried to keep step with her teammates, "Everybody's a critic today."

* * *

Weiss awoke about two hours later. She didn't feel completely refreshed but at least she wasn't so bone-weary anymore. The heiress turned around in her bed, only to realize that she was wrapped up in some kind of red cloth. After a short examination, she recognized it. Then it hit her: Ruby had been released from the hospital!

The white-haired girl was immediately on her feet again. Ruby had finally woke up! She remembered now: Her girlfriend had been here to tell her she was okay, cuddled with her, left her her cape as a blanket and took off to... to... Drat!

'Come on, you useless lesbian.', the heiress scolded herself inwardly as she tried to recall the conversation, 'You might have been barely conscious, but some part of your sleep-deprived brain must have paid attention to your girlfriend. This is important, damn it! How can you expect her to love you when... the cafeteria!'

The moment it struck her mind, Weiss made her way to the door. She didn't even care that she looked like garbage right now, maybe she had just forgotten about it in the first place. She just wanted to see her Rose Petal, hug her, kiss her, tell her how relieved, grateful and ecstatic she was that the most important person in her life was okay. She tore open the door, almost forceful enough to rip it out of its hinges... only to find Ruby on the other side, with Yang and Blake right behind her, the younger girl reaching for the doorknob as well.

For a moment, the heiress and the crimsonette just stood there, staring into each other's eyes. Weiss' blue orbs met Ruby's silver ones and, for some reason, time stood still for them. Then, the emotions broke loose.

The young couple fell into each other's arms and started to kiss passionately. All of the stress and the worry of the past days were washed away as they savored the taste of the other's lips. It might've been only a few days, but it felt like an eternity since they had done this the last time. Therefore, the young couple's actions got a little heated pretty soon.

Ruby pulled Weiss as close to her as physically possible, one hand of her on the small of the white-haired girl's back, the other one caressing the back of her neck. Weiss' hands found their way to her girlfriend's hip and between her shoulder blades. The heiress felt a tongue forcing its way into her mouth as deep as it would go, entwining around her own shortly after. Weiss was a little bit surprised by the crimsonette's sudden boldness but didn't object in the slightest. This girl was just too intoxicating. Even if Ruby would start to undress her, right here right now, she probably wouldn't stop her.

The crimsonette's hand on the small of Weiss' back suddenly started to act on its own as it slowly traveled down further, until it grabbed the heiress' perfectly shaped ass through her skirt. Ruby was surprised by herself, but the feeling of soft, yet firm flesh in her grasp pushed this aside in an instant. Unconsciously, she slowly started rubbing her body against the white-haired girl and earned a little moan from her. The fact that they were standing in a hallway and her sister stood right next to them was only a distant memory.

Weiss had long forgotten where they were or who was watching as well. The twitch in her crotch area should've been a warning signal, but somehow it didn't reach her brain this time. Spurred on by Ruby's actions, her hands started to roam over the crimson-haired girl's body too. It felt like heaven to finally hold and kiss her girlfriend again, to be as close as possible to her. The heiress hoped this moment would last forever. However, she was grievously mistaken.

"WhoawhoawhoawhoaWHOA! Cut. It. Out!", Yang yelled and barged in between the two, trying to separate them, "Just because I'm okay with you two dating doesn't mean I'm okay with you playing tonsil hockey while practically dry-humping right in front of me, in the middle of a hallway no less!"

"Oh! O-of course. I'm sorry.", Weiss apologized, blushing furiously as she realized what she and Ruby just had done, "It is just that I'm so happy that she's alright and that she..."

'Why is Weiss apologizing? It was me who was so pushy, after all.', the crimsonette thought confused, 'Anyway, I really need to control myself better. It would be easier if my Snowflake wasn't so damn sexy, though.' She blushed a bit at the last thought.

"Yeah, I get it. We all are happy that Ruby is back.", Yang finally interrupted the still rambling heiress, "Just... urgh... y'know. Sister and stuff." With these words and a last, slightly annoyed grunt, the blonde squeezed past her and entered the dorm room.

"Don't mind her.", Blake said with a grin and put a hand on Weiss' shoulder, "She's probably just jealous that she isn't the most important person in Ruby's life anymore. Oh, we got you some food, by the way." The Faunus gave her friend one last pat on the back, then she followed Yang into the dorm room. Now the young couple stood alone in the hallway.

"Umm... if you haven't noticed already...", Weiss started, still blushing and a little embarrassed, "I'm really happy that you're back and doing well."

"Believe me, I noticed.", Ruby responded, her breath still uneven, "Even the coma-me would've noticed, Snowflake. Would have probably woken me up instantly. Next time I'm out, just try doing this."

"I really hope there won't be a next time.", the heiress said, "When I saw you collapse back there, I was so scared... I..." A little sob found its way back into her voice.

"Hey... No more of these negative thoughts.", Ruby quickly interrupted her and cupped her cheek gently, "Let's just live in the here and now. We go into the dorm room, take a shower... separately... watch a movie on my Scroll and cuddle. Deal?"

"Sounds lovely.", Weiss answered with a smile and wiped away a stray tear, "After you, my Rose Petal."

The young couple entered their room where Yang and Blake had already gotten comfortable. Ruby and Weiss took their respective showers and got onto the heiress' bed soon after. To prevent another emotional outburst from her girlfriend, the crimsonette chose the most stupid and hilarious comedy she could find on her Scroll to watch. But while the heiress was (surprisingly) enjoying the movie and relaxed into the girl that hugged her from behind, Ruby's mind still spun around another thing.

'What the hell had gotten into me earlier?", she thought a little baffled, "We were in the middle of a hallway and Yang and Blake were watching. Who knows what I'd have done if Yang hadn't stopped me? Okay, Ruby, calm down. Probably just some bad case of Weiss-withdrawal. Should be better tomorrow.'

With this in thought, she pulled the white-haired girl a little closer, earning a quite, but happy giggle from her and started enjoying the movie as well.

* * *

Yang let Ruby and Weiss sleep in the same bed that night _VERY_ unwillingly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank goodness! Ruby's okay. Apparently, getting hit by this stinger hadn't had any weird side effects at all. Now the young couple can finally be happy...
> 
> ...yeah, I don't believe myself, either.
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you think of this chapter in the comments. I know it wasn't very plot-heavy this time, but I think I'll use the next chapters for a little foreshadowing. Also, there's a lot of other stuff left to do for Ruby and Weiss. How to tell their teammates that their relationship is an intimate one now? How to tell them about Weiss' secret? And then there's the stuff with the parents (even though I don't plan to include this anytime soon).
> 
> Stay tuned, my dear readership. I still have a lot of awesome ideas for this story in mind. We're far from finished. I'll see you next chapter.


	23. Back to Normal?

This morning, Ruby finally awoke next to her girlfriend again. Even though she had been in a coma the past few days and couldn't remember anything, she was certain that she had missed this unconsciously: The sweet scent of vanilla shampoo that filled her nostrils, the silver strands of hair that tickled her face, the soft, warm body that was hers to play with...

Whoa! Where did that come from?

It was now that Ruby noticed a slight dampness between her legs. Her girlfriend's gropable rump that was pressed into her crotch, their forms only separated by a few layers of cloth, didn't help her situation at all. Oh, how much she wished that she and Weiss were alone in the dorm room right now. Unfortunately, the crimsonette could clearly hear the loud snores from her sister's bunk. Blake slept a bit less noisy, but the younger girl knew she was there as well.

'Damn it, guys.', she thought annoyed, 'Why can't you be somewhere else when I'm... what I am right now.' She tried to avoid this particular word in her head, but she knew exactly how she felt: She was horny as hell.

Her hands that were wrapped around the heiress' stomach at the moment, started to move on their own again like they did yesterday. One of them slowly crept up until it reached one of the white-haired girl's perky breasts and started to gently massage it. The other one moved in the other direction, over Weiss' lower abdomen, her hip, her thigh and finally under the hem of her nightgown. The feeling of bare skin to her fingertips was electrifying as the crimsonette's hand started its ascent under the heiress' sleepwear. Suddenly, the formerly motionless body started to stir.

"Hngh... Ruby?", Weiss whispered sleepily, "What do you think are you doing?"

"Trying to wake you up the nicest way I could think of.", the crimsonette responded quietly and gave her girlfriend's breast a small squeeze, which resulted in a surprised squeak from her.

"Ruby! Stop this immediately!", the heiress hissed in an almost scolding tone, "Blake and Yang are right next to us and my body is starting to... react."

"Is that so?", the younger girl asked with a smug grin, then she brushed her hand over her girlfriend's panties, noticing the small but steadily growing bulge beneath them, "Oh, looks like you were right."

The touch sent a shiver down Weiss' spine and she let out something between a pained whimper and a needy moan. She knew that they couldn't do something like that right now, even though it would feel sooo amazingly good. At the moment, the heiress didn't know if she should push Ruby away or pull her even closer. Yet, this question was answered by a third, very sleepy and very annoyed voice that petrified both girls. Apparently, they had been a little too loud.

"What's all the fuss about?!", Yang groaned irritated and sat up in her bunk, "I hope you two aren't messing around."

"No! Just tickled Weiss awake.", the crimson-haired girl quickly lied and removed her hands from her girlfriend's body, "Pretty noisy, isn't she?" Fortunately, the young couple laid with their backs to the blonde, so the older girl didn't notice that both their faces were as red as Ruby's cloak.

"Damn it! Now I'm awake.", Yang grunted, the adrenaline from going into 'Big Sister Mode' racing through her veins, "On a Saturday. This early. I hope you're happy, you despicable lovebirds." Even though the blonde was still upset, it was pretty obvious that the last remark had been a joke... mostly. Then, the addressed couple heard a loud thud as Yang ungracefully jumped down from her bunk.

"I'm going to grab a shower.", she announced, this time a bit more friendly, "But first..." Then she grabbed her pillow and threw it into her Faunus friend's face mercilessly. The reaction she got was a muffled groan and something that almost sounded like "What the fuck.", but it wasn't clearly audible.

"Wakey wakey, Blakey Blakey.", the blonde said gleefully in a sing-song voice, "Team RWBY's starting the day early. And you're joining the game, player four."

"What've I ever done to you?", Blake asked deadpan as she peeled the pillow off her face.

"Hey, little Red and little White woke _me_ up.", Yang explained as she grabbed a set of clothes, "So your meow-sery is technically their fault." Before Blake could tell her partner that this logic was stupid or get upset because of the awful cat-joke, the blonde had disappeared into the bathroom.

* * *

In her bed, Weiss was having a pretty bad morning. Even though Ruby had let go of her, the aftereffects of the younger girl's earlier groping were still taking a toll on her. Her member, already half erect at the moment, had escaped through one of her panties' legholes as it grew further. Therefore, the heiress rolled over onto her stomach to hide her Ruby-inflicted morning wood.

"Thanks, dolt.", she sighed, careful to be quiet so only her girlfriend could hear her, "Now I can't get up until it's flaccid again."

"I'm sorry.", the crimsonette apologized and hugged her again, careful not to grab any erogenous zones, "I'll make this up to you, okay." And even though she didn't try to sound seductive in any way, the heiress' mind immediately started to imagine what this apology might contain.

"You're not helping.", Weiss hissed, trying to keep her cool, "Get our teammates out of the room somehow. Then I can take care of this."

Of course, Ruby knew how serious this was. Even though the heiress had gotten a lot more comfortable with this part of her body, telling her teammates most certainly needed some preparation; walking around the dorm room with a morning wood would probably be a bad way to break the news. Therefore, the crimsonette had to do something.

"Hey, how about we go to the cafeteria for an early breakfast?", she suggested and checked the time on her Scroll after she had jumped out of bed, "They should open in about half an hour."

"Cafeteria? Sounds good to me.", they heard from a now fully dressed Yang as the bathroom door suddenly flew open, "The sooner I'm done with breakfast, the sooner I can hit the gym... or just laze around. Depends on my mood."

"And I can get some reading done.", Blake said, then she gave Yang a mischievous glance, "Or plot my revenge. Next shower's mine." With these words, the Faunus grabbed a set of clothes and went to the bathroom as well.

"I'll shower when we get back.", Ruby announced since she wanted them out as soon as possible, "I'll just change in the closet, then I'm good to go." She was pretty sure her plan was going to work. Unfortunately, she hadn't taken her sister into account.

"Looks like there' still one person left that hasn't gotten the message yet.", Yang addressed Weiss and made her way to her bed, "Come on, Princess. Get up. Blood and glory await us."

"Nope. Weiss can relax for another few minutes and follow us when she had showered.", Ruby said, maybe a little too hasty. Hopefully, it didn't sound too suspicious.

"Hey, why does she get special treatment?", Yang asked annoyed, "Just because you two are a couple?" Okay, now the crimsonette needed a pretty good excuse without appearing biased.

"Well, it had been my fault that she woke up in the first place.", Ruby answered, "And she stayed awake for so long when I was in the medical ward. She had earned a little more rest, don't you think? I'm feeling pretty guilty since it was my fault, so... please?" She then looked at her sister with her puppy-dog eyes.

The blonde made the mistake to return the look and was immediately under the silver eyes' spell. She thought about her sister's words for a while but eventually agreed, much to the crimsonette's relief. Even Yang had to admit that it had been kind of adorable of the heiress to stay at Ruby's side for so long and to chase everyone away that told her to get some rest – almost like a tiny guard dog that no one would take seriously... until they got bitten.

"Okay, fine.", Yang sighed, "But she better be getting breakfast this time. I'm tired of force-feeding little Miss Self-Destructive."

"Thanks, Yang...", Weiss answered, trying to sound as sleepy as her nervous state allowed, "I promise, I'll get up in half an hour or so."

"I hope so.", the blonde pressed, "Even though I appreciate you caring about my sister, I'm not your maid."

'My family doesn't hire ill-mannered brutes anyway.', Weiss thought, 'Whoa, Weiss! You wanted to be nicer, remember?' The fear of her secret being revealed really messed with her attitude. Unfortunately, her member didn't seem to go flaccid anytime soon. Ruby could be so inconsiderate sometimes...

A few minutes later, Blake exited the bathroom, fully dressed and ready to go. In the meantime, Ruby had changed as well. Weiss, still lying on her stomach, had avoided any further conversation with Yang by pretending to try and go back to sleep again.

"Okay, Weiss. We're leaving.", Ruby announced, "I've set an alarm on your Scroll. Try to get up when it's beeping. See ya in the cafeteria."

"Don't keep us waiting for too long.", Yang added, "Or else I'll come and drag you there. I know where you live."

Then the three girls left the dorm room, much to Weiss' relief. Not before five minutes after the door had fallen shut, Weiss finally mustered the courage to sit up. Her eyes immediately fell on the noticeable tent under the blanket. Fortunately, she had rolled over onto her stomach in time to hide this ridiculously big appendage.

"Okay... before I can congregate with my team again, I definitely need a quick, cold shower.", the heiress told herself and threw back the covers.

Her dick still stood at full attention, throbbing with need. Yet, Weiss was surprised with how less she cared about it anymore herself. Over a month ago, this had been her most despised sight, but now this thing almost seemed... normal to her; even though it bothered her from time to time. But that was most certainly just puberty, also something perfectly normal. She could finally accept herself and it was all thanks to Ruby, her beloved, cute, crimson-haired dolt. As she thought of her girlfriend, the memories of the younger girl's touch from earlier made themselves at home in her mind once more, making her member twitch in response.

"Okay, maybe a long, hot shower...", Weiss said with a small grin.

* * *

After the heiress had taken care of her urges in the shower, she was finally ready to start the day – starting with a healthy breakfast. She made sure her clothes looked immaculate, then she left for the cafeteria. She was pretty hungry since she had barely eaten the last days. And it would be nice to eat in a relaxed setting for a change and not being force-fed by Yang and Blake.

The cafeteria was still pretty empty when Weiss arrived. It was Saturday and still early, after all. Yet, she spotted team JNPR sitting at their teammates' table. They probably had some big plans for today, or Nora had woken everybody up like Ruby and Yang had done it today. Suddenly, an idea struck Weiss – and since barely any student was around, it was probably the perfect time to pull it off. But first, she needed something to eat.

After she had gotten herself some pancakes, a bowl of cereal, some fruit and a glass of orange juice (damn, she hadn't noticed how hungry she was until now), she approached the table where her teammates and friends were sitting at. Everyone was chatting happily with Ruby, obviously glad that she was alright. Apparently, the crimsonette was telling a story about their mission right now because she made a lot of expanding gestures and action noises. But the moment the younger girl spotted her girlfriend, she stopped abruptly and started to wave. A small smile crossed the heiress' face as she thought about the surprise she had planned.

"Hey there, Weiss. I saved you a seat.", Ruby chirped as the white-haired girl was within earshot and patted the spot next to her enthusiastically. Of course, her partner took it. However, what happened after that threw the crimsonette, and everybody else on the table, completely off guard.

"Hey there, Rose Petal.", the heiress responded tenderly as she sat down and after she had made sure that nobody besides the people at their table paid attention one last time, gave Ruby a quick but affectionate kiss. Every party at the table reacted differently: As the heiress pulled away, the younger girl's lips followed her as she tried to draw out the kiss. Yang and Blake raised an eyebrow at Weiss' sudden action, surprised that she was willing to do something like that in public. Team JNPR, however, was completely dumbfounded. They maintained their stunned expressions even after the young couple had parted.

"Oh, yeah. We forgot to mention.", Weiss said nonchalantly, "Ruby and I are a couple. For over a month now, actually."

"Y-yeah, what Weiss said.", Ruby seconded, still surprised but also incredibly happy, "Sorry for keeping it a secret that long. Y'know, since we're friends and all that."

Nora was the first one who found her voice back: "With couple you mean _together_? As in _together-together_?"

"Do you really need an answer to that after what had happened just a moment ago?", Ren deadpanned, then he turned to Weiss and Ruby again, "Anyway, congratulations, you two. We probably could've guessed it. You were so... content with each other and so... well, not you." He said the last thing with a small chuckle.

"As if you could guess if anyone likes another person that way.", Nora said with a pout. As Ren looked her way again, she turned away and picked at her food.

"What they meant to say is that they are happy for you.", Pyrrha interposed quickly, "We all are. Isn't that right, Jaune? Jaune?"

As she turned to face her blonde team leader, she noticed that he still had a dumbfounded expression on his face. The fact that Weiss was in a relationship, with Ruby out of all people, obviously needed a little longer to reach his brain. But after a few seconds, he seemed to have processed the information.

"Umm... yeah. Happy. Totally.", the blonde guy stammered, "Just a little surprised, that's all."

"I guess now it's pretty obvious why I wasn't affected by your flirting attempts.", Weiss said and added conciliatorily, "From an objective point of view, you can probably be quite charming." The heiress exchanged a quick glance with Pyrrha, who blushed and looked down immediately. Almost everybody knew that the redhead had romantic feelings for her team leader - he remained oblivious, though.

"Hehe... thanks for the compliment.", Jaune responded a little embarrassed and scratched the back of his head, "Oh, and congratulations. You two make a cute couple."

"I'm glad you feel that way.", Weiss replied with a genuine smile and pulled her girlfriend into a one-armed hug.

"I hope you stop trying to hit on her now.", Ruby suddenly said, her expression dead serious.

Weiss turned around to face her girlfriend and raised an eyebrow. Ruby's statement almost sounded... threatening. Even her eyes, her otherwise so beautiful silver eyes, radiated something dangerous. Admittedly, it was kind of flattering that the younger girl got a little possessive, but Jaune was their friend. It was unreasonable to think he would try any advances after they had clarified that they were a couple.

"Of course.", the blonde boy said matter-of-factly, "I'm a man of honor, after all. A friend's girlfriend is totally off-limits. Actually, I'm a little offended that you even think I would do something like that."

Ruby's expression softened immediately.

"Sorry.", she quickly apologized, "It's just that my Snowflake is my everything. Maybe I'm just a little self-conscious because I've no idea how I got myself such an awesome girlfriend. But you're my friend. I know you wouldn't do something like that."

"Too little, too late.", Jaune said and crossed his arms, still acting hurt, but the small smirk on his face told otherwise, "But maaaybe a box of cookies can make me forgive you." After hearing this, one of Ruby's eyes started to twitch and she started to clench her teeth, too. Of course, this was meant to be a joke as well... mostly.

"Relax, I'm just kidding.", the blonde guy responded conciliatorily, "I won't take away your cookies. Last time I tried I got bitten."

"Told you it's dangerous to get near her plate when it's feeding time.", Yang remarked nonchalantly and, a moment later, everybody (except Ruby) burst into laughter.

"Hey!", the crimsonette pouted, then she noticed that even her girlfriend was laughing at her, "Even you, Snowflake?"

"C'mon, Ruby.", Weiss giggled, "You literally bit him that one time."

"He had been warned.", the younger girl deadpanned and turned her attention back to her tray.

"Don't be like that.", the heiress said soothingly and pulled her girlfriend into another comforting hug, "Be the cute, bubbly, happy-go-lucky Rose Petal I fell in love with."

"It's really hard to be mad at someone who looks like they're about to kiss me.", Ruby responded with a small smile.

"You're terrible.", Weiss giggled and rolled her eyes but, nevertheless, she started to lean in.

"Deal with it.", Ruby simply whispered before their lips finally met. It was only a brief kiss since they were in public, but it was still affectionate. When they parted, all eyes were on them again.

"This is probably going to take a while to get used to.", Ren stated dryly.

"You don't say?", Yang deadpanned, "You can guess how I've reacted when I've found out that my sister's dating the Ice Qu... Weiss."

Everybody nodded at this statement. They knew only too well how over-protective the blonde could be. And since the heiress hadn't been very friendly to Ruby at first, they understood Yang's initial worries and doubts. But still, the young couple seemed pretty happy.

"Sooo...", Nora suddenly addressed the two lovebirds, "Since you two are... together-together... Have you already..."

"Nora!!!", her whole team interrupted her and turned beet-red.

"What? You don't even know what I was going to ask.", the orange-haired girl responded with a shrug.

Ruby and Weiss exchanged a meaningful look with each other and started to blush as well. Fortunately, nobody noticed since they were too busy feeling embarrassed on Nora's behalf. The young couple still hadn't figured out how to tell Yang about the new intimacy of their relationship, but they knew that they needed a pretty good plan to approach such a delicate topic – since Weiss liked her bones unbroken.

After Nora had killed the pleasant mood, the rest of the meal was taken in an awkward silence. Luckily, nobody addressed the aforementioned topic anymore, so at least Ruby and Weiss didn't have to lie. But despite the sudden awkwardness, Weiss still felt proud of herself. She had taken the next step and told her friends about her relationship with Ruby. The white-haired girl, as well as her girlfriend, smiled from ear to ear as they were holding hands under the table during the rest of breakfast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And another one down. Less plot, more set-up, a little Beacon shenanigans and, of course, some more Weiss-trouble. By the way, Ruby's starting to behave a little odd, don't you think? First groping Weiss this morning, then the thing with Jaune... Well, maybe it's just the hormones...
> 
> Sorry that this pretty short chapter still took so long to finish. I had a reeeaaally bad case of the dangerous 'man flu' the last few day, so I didn't feel like writing at all. But I'm all good again now, all thanks to disobeying the dosage recommendations of my medication. The more the merrier.
> 
> Hope you still enjoyed the chapter. I promise the next one will be a lot more interesting. Leave a comment and stay tuned. I'll see you around.


	24. Truth Be Told...

The rest of the Saturday went by completely uneventful. After they had eaten, everybody returned to their respective dorm rooms since no one had an idea how to spend the day together. Back in team RWBY's room, Yang busied herself with binge-watching a cartoon series on her Scroll while Blake tried to finish a novel she had started recently.

Ruby didn't have the luxury to just sit back and relax. Even though she wanted to watch cartoons as well, her girlfriend insisted on going over the notes from their teammates and also on finishing two small assignments that were given last week. There might've been fewer classes, but that didn't mean there was nothing to catch up on – and Weiss, being the immaculate student she was, wanted to get this done as soon as possible, much to Ruby's dismay.

However, the younger girl couldn't quite concentrate. Maybe it was due to her sister's almost unreadable scrawl (almost as bad as her own handwriting with her off-hand), or due to the mind-numbing repetitiveness of the notes of Professor Port's classes, or probably because she had been in a coma for almost three days after an attack from an unknown Grimm.

No matter how one looked at it, the crimsonette barely made any progress, and while Weiss was able to finish everything at about six o'clock, Ruby was still struggling with the last class of last Tuesday. The white-haired girl then started to help her girlfriend study after she had arranged her own notes, but after another hour they called it quits. Even Weiss had to admit that the younger girl had suffered enough.

The young couple spent the rest of their evening watching another movie on their shared bed. This time, Ruby let her girlfriend pick one, but since Weiss had very little knowledge of this stuff (her parents thought very poorly of television – except educational channels), they ended up watching another action slash romance movie similar to the ones Ruby had shown her before.

Yet, something was different this time. Both girls didn't exchange as many affections as usual. Even Yang and Blake noticed and found it a little odd. They had assumed that the young couple would be all over each other, much like yesterday, but this wasn't the case. Barely any cuddling, tickling, play-fighting or kissing – Ruby and Weiss just sat there, the former hugging the latter from behind again, and actually watched the movie.

Of course, they had a reason for their behavior, even though they couldn't tell her teammates about it – Ruby and Weiss were afraid they would take it too far again.

Even sleeping in the same bed was kind of uncomfortable now. Being so close to each other only reminded the two lovers of all the exciting things they couldn't do at the moment. Of course, it was still very pleasant to make out and cuddle, but ever since both girls had experienced these other amazing, addicting feelings it was hard to be completely satisfied with anything less.

This night, Ruby needed a fair amount of willpower to keep her hands to herself. Weiss had demanded that the younger girl had to be the big spoon this time. Even though the heiress had _relieved_ herself earlier that day, she was still afraid of poking her girlfriend in the back with her... endowment... in case it got erect. Just imagining the crimsonette's soft buttcheeks pressed into her crotch was enough to send a shiver down her spine and made her member twitch.

They somehow managed to survive the night without pouncing on each other, but it was a close call. The young couple needed to come up with a plan soon, or they couldn't sleep in the same bed anymore.

* * *

Sunday started quite similar to Saturday. Again, Ruby was the first one who was awake, but this time, she managed not to grope her girlfriend. Since the crimson-haired girl didn't want to wake anybody up again, she got out of bed as careful as possible. Weiss stirred a little in her sleep and mumbled something indistinguishable, but soon relaxed back into her pillow. On her tiptoes, Ruby made her way out of her room and into the dorm's kitchen to brew a pot of coffee. It had been her fault that her team had to start yesterday early, after all, so this would be a good apology gift. Also, a caffeinated Weiss was a happy Weiss, and a happy Weiss would probably overlook the fact that the crimsonette still had to go through this horrendous amount of notes and finish these assignments – two birds, one stone.

However, Ruby was grievously mistaken. Of course, her team, and especially her girlfriend, appreciated the coffee, but as soon as the white-haired girl had finished her cup, she recommended Ruby to drink one herself since she had a lot of work left to do. Sighing in defeat, the crimsonette poured herself a mug as well and downed it in one go, completely passing on cream and sugar. A disappointing beverage to start a disappointing day.

* * *

After a quick breakfast with her team, Ruby had gone back to the dorm room to study. She was currently sitting at one of the desks, for some time now already, trying to decipher her sister's horrid handwriting once again. Weiss was at the library at the moment, getting some books in order to help her girlfriend. Yang and Blake had left for the training grounds for a quick sparring session to keep in shape. Oh, how much Ruby wished to be with them right now. Beating up friends with a giant scythe would obviously be way more fun than reading something about the migratory behavior of Nevermores.

Even though the crimson-haired girl had her fair share of coffee in the morning, reading all of this boring stuff made her start to feel dizzy. Words, letters, and schematics slowly became one big, blurred splash of color as she slowly started to doze off. Therefore, she didn't hear someone entering the dorm room. Ruby almost jumped out of her skin when she was suddenly addressed. On the bright side: She was wide awake again.

"Hey, sis.", Yang said cheerfully, "Team JNPR just told us it's Sunday opening in Vale and Blake 'n I are going shopping. C'mon, go get the girl that's sticking to your lips most of the time and join us. The day's way too nice to sit here in this stuffy room and study."

"I can't...", Ruby sighed glumly, "Weiss is still making me go through your notes from the last week. I couldn't finish this even halfway yesterday. She's at the library at the moment, looking for some books about the topics of the assignments."

"Then just send her a message that we're going to meet her at the airship docks in thirty minutes. You were at this for hours yesterday, so you've earned a break.", the blonde pressed, "Most of the shops are having special offers today. Probably even the little bakery near the theater." The last part was spoken in a sing-song voice as if to cast a spell over Ruby and her fondness for cake and cookies.

"You're making it worse...", the crimsonette whined, "I reeeaaally have to finish this stuff today. I've made a promise to Weiss. No dilly-dallying anymore."

"Already pussy-whipped by the Ice Queen, huh?", Yang remarked while shaking her head, "I can't believe that you're the bottom of this relationship."

"This has nothing to do with being the bottom.", Ruby pouted, "This stuff is important. If I fail the next test and Weiss gets another A+ I'll never hear the end of it."

"Come on, Yang. Let the poor girl study.", Blake said, " _You_ could use better work ethics yourself sometimes."

"But not today.", the blonde responded, "It's a sunny Sunday and the clothing store at Park Street has some nice sales that got my name on them."

Suddenly, the door swung open again and Weiss entered the dorm room, her arms laden with books. She sat them down on the desk Ruby was working on, then she scanned the progress her girlfriend had made. In the process, a small frown appeared on her face.

"Whatever you two are going to do in here, please keep the noise down.", the heiress addressed her other teammates without turning around to face them, "We're trying to study. And considering what I see at the moment (she tapped her finger on the sheet of paper in front of the younger girl), Ruby's in dire need of it."

"Hey!", the crimsonette pouted again, then she scanned her notes as well to find her mistake. It was kind of weird that Weiss was so nice and affectionate in their free time now but still pretty strict and bossy when it came to studying. This would probably never change, but Ruby honestly didn't want her Snowflake any other way.

"Yeah, whatevs.", Yang responded with a shrug, "We were going to ask you if you wanted to join us on our shopping trip, but it looks like you have better things to do. C'mon, Blake. Let's get our stuff and leave these nerds to their books."

"Hey, I like books as well.", the Faunus defended her hobby, then she added with a challenging grin, "It's not our fault that you never learned how to read." If Yang could tease her teammates, so could she.

"Very funny.", the blonde deadpanned, "Hurry up, I don't wanna miss the airship."

"We still have almost forty minutes left and we only need fifteen to get to the docks.", Blake responded and grabbed her wallet.

"Yeah, but what if I get distracted by some people fighting in the courtyard?", Yang asked, "Wouldn't be the first time something like that happens."

"How about... just ignoring them?", Blake asked back before she reconsidered, "Yeah... I noticed myself how stupid that sounded."

"You know me so well, kitty-cat.", Yang said with a grin, then she opened the door and turned to Ruby and Weiss one last time, "See ya later, folks. Have fun studying. And I _mean_ studying." After this statement (or warning) she and Blake left the dorm room.

"Your sister can be really annoying sometimes.", Weiss sighed after the door had fallen shut, "Anyway, let's get this done. The sooner we can finish all of this, the sooner we can relax, too."

The young couple then returned to their studies, but Ruby's motivation was virtually zero. She had been on this for the entire morning and she needed a break. Unfortunately, her girlfriend was a pretty strict tutor and most certainly wouldn't allow this. Therefore, the crimson-haired girl needed a good excuse.

"Oh no! I forgot to tell Yang to get me some cookies from my favorite bakery.", Ruby suddenly exclaimed, "Umm... maybe I can still catch up with her when I hurry and ask her about this. I'll be back in a bit, I promise."

"Nice try, Ruby Rose.", the heiress said with a mischievous grin, "If I'd let you follow your sister now, I won't see you for the next few hours. You can send her a text, but you won't leave this dorm room until we're done with this."

"Meanie...", the younger girl whined, "I would've come back... probably..." Of course, both girls knew that this wouldn't have been the case.

"If you would use about half of the energy you waste to avoid studying to actually study, you could get this stuff done in no time.", Weiss explained with a sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Now stop coming up with excuses and concentrate. I'm here to help you, but only if you take this seriously."

"Fine... you're probably right.", Ruby agreed, "And... thank you. I really appreciate your help, Snowflake."

"You're welcome.", the heiress responded with a smile, "Now let's get to it."

* * *

The young couple continued reviewing the notes and started working on the first assignment. Weiss, who had been able to finish everything yesterday, was helping Ruby with the more difficult stuff, but without prompting too much. The white-haired girl still wanted her girlfriend to do it on her own, or this whole study session would be pointless. Of course, Ruby tried her best not to disappoint the heiress, but after another thirty minutes, she was at the end of her tether.

"Brain hurty...", the younger girl sighed and put her head on the desk, "Too much info thingies."

"C'mon, Rose Petal. You're making good progress.", Weiss tried to motivate her, "If you keep this up, maybe you can finish everything in about... three or four hours."

This prediction only caused the younger girl to moan in agony. Three or four hours?! This had to be prevented somehow! But then, an idea struck her.

"Y'know, Snowflake...", she began, suddenly trying to sound seductive, "Yang and Blake are probably gone for a few hours. Maybe we can... take our lunch break early for a little... hanky-panky?"

"R-Ruby!", the heiress exclaimed and blushed furiously, "D-don't say something like that!"

"So... is that a no?", Ruby asked with a sad expression and her trademark puppy-dog eyes.

"I-I... didn't say that...", Weiss responded and looked away. She already felt a familiar twitching in her crotch area and, if she'd be honest with herself, she knew that she wanted it, too.

"Then... it's a _yes_?", Ruby then asked, now with a wicked grin.

"I didn't say that, either.", the heiress said and her blush turned even redder... if that was possible.

"So... if it's not a no, but also not a yes...", the crimson-haired girl wondered, stood up from her chair and pulled her girlfriend into a gentle embrace, resting her forehead on Weiss', her eyes filled with desire.

"What is it then?", Ruby finished in a whisper, her grin spreading even wider as she saw lust flare up in her lover's eyes as well.

"I... I... Urgh... you insufferable, little...", the heiress panted, annoyed about herself, and her cravings, and her girlfriend, and everything else, but she was cut off by Ruby who suddenly kissed her. The feeling of the crimsonette's lips on her own turned the small spark of lust into a roaring fire in an instant.

'Urgh, screw it!', the white-haired girl suddenly thought. Hadn't she suppressed her urges long enough? She wanted it. Her girlfriend wanted it. They were alone in the dorm room for at least a few hours, just Ruby and her... and raw, burning desire.

Weiss pulled her girlfriend even closer and deepened the kiss. Soon, their tongues met and fought for dominance. Their hands started to roam over each other's bodies, trying to find a way under these annoying clothes to feel soft skin instead of fabric. It was almost like Friday, but with one difference: They didn't need to stop this time.

Ruby slowly pushed Weiss to their bed and soon they stumbled upon it, the former straddling the latter. Of course, they never broke the kiss completely, only pulling away from each other for barely a second when they needed to breathe. Fortunately, the dorm rooms were mostly soundproof, so that students could study without being disturbed by any noise in the hallways – or, in this case, that nobody in the hallways could hear the lustful, barely muffled moans of the two girls.

Weiss' member was long since erect and had slipped out of her panties, tenting up her skirt and prodding Ruby's panty-clad butt. The moment the crimsonette noticed this, she started to grind her rump up and down the length, making her girlfriend moan even louder in the process. Both girls took their time teasing each other, not undressing yet but groping and massaging each other's bodies through and under their clothing. They had all the time in the world, after all, so why not enjoy this moment for as long as possible?

Little did they know that the universe had a different plan for them today... a sick, twisted, horrendous plan. Ruby and Weiss were so absorbed in their own, little world that they didn't notice anything around them anymore... not even the door opening behind them.

Then, the disaster took its course.

* * *

"I still can't believe you forgot your wallet.", Blake sighed annoyed for the third time now, "And you told _me_ to hurry up getting my stuff."

"I said I'm sorry, kitty-cat.", Yang apologized, also for the third time, "Relax. The bookstore isn't running away. We can take the airship an hour later. I'll pay for lunch to make it up to you."

"Then better get your wallet.", Blake said with a grin, "My favorite sushi restaurant isn't exactly cheap."

"What did I get myself into?", the blonde sighed. Then she opened the door.

But what she saw left her completely stunned: Ruby and Weiss were laying on their bed, her sister on top of the heiress... and something, something pretty big on top of that, something that obviously didn't belong to a girl's body, was in plain view, poking out from under Weiss' skirt. Why? How?

"WHAT?! THE?! FUCK?!", Yang yelled. Blake was equally shocked, but completely at a loss for words.

The shout from the blonde petrified the two girls that made out on the bed for a second. Weiss then pushed Ruby away from her and suddenly looked into the red eyes of a VERY angry Yang. After that, the heiress tried to hide her erection somehow, but she knew there was no use to it. Her teammates had seen her secret. Her formerly blushing face went completely white in an instant, frozen in a horrified expression.

"What in all of Remnant's sake is this... this... thing?!", the brawler continued to yell and made her way over to the bed, "W-why do you have a... Is this some kind of twisted, perverted summoning stuff of yours?"

"Umm... I-I...", Weiss tried to answer but was interrupted by a hand that forcefully grabbed her by the collar, pulled her up and pushed her against the nearest wall.

"Hey! Calm down!", Blake said hastily but was completely ignored by the blonde.

"You know what, Schnee? I actually don't want to know.", Yang growled and balled her other hand into a fist.

"Yang! Stop it!", Ruby now exclaimed, trying to calm her sister down as well.

"Shut up, Ruby! This is none of your business!", the blonde barked, then she turned back to Weiss, "Just tell me one thing, Ice Queen: Had this disgusting thing ever been inside of my little sister at some point?!" Weiss remained silent, full of fear.

"Answer me, you freak!", Yang yelled wrathfully.

"Umm... I... well... we...", Weiss stammered, her gaze meeting Ruby's for a second, and a faint blush reappeared on her face. The blonde immediately knew what that meant.

"Wrong answer.", she deadpanned and cracked her neck, "You're dead meat, Schnee." Then, she made her punch.

* * *

Just before her fist hit Weiss in the face, it was stopped abruptly. Yang looked to her side and saw her sister who had grabbed her arm. The crimson-haired girl's silver eyes were full of anger as well. Then, there was a stinging pain as Ruby grabbed her sister's other hand and gave it a hard squeeze. The blonde immediately let go of the heiress. A hard shove pushed her a few feet away from the young couple afterwards.

"If you ever try to hurt my girlfriend again, I'm going to make you regret it!", Ruby spat.

"B-but Ruby...", Yang, still angry but taken aback, tried to intervene but was interrupted shortly after.

"I'm not a child anymore! I can make my own decisions! I don't need to be protected all the time!", the crimsonette continued, furious, "And I hate it that you're putting the blame on my Snowflake everytime something _you_ are not okay with happens. It's mine and Weiss' relationship and I don't give a fucking damn about what you think of it!"

"Everyone calm down, for fuck's sake!", Blake exclaimed.

"Blake's right.", Weiss backed her up, "Nothing bad had happened. Ruby, please. It's okay."

"No, it's not! This speech is long overdue!", the younger girl snarled, then she turned back to her sister, "I'm tired of everyone thinking that I'm a little kid, especially you, Yang. I'm an adult. I have slain a ton of huge monsters. I don't need to be mothered anymore."

"Ruby, I only...", the blonde began anew but was cut off again.

"And you know what?! Yes, Weiss and I had sex with each other. A few times already.", Ruby spat, "And guess what? Weiss hadn't even wanted to do it in the first place. It was me who initiated it! And the first time it happened, I was on top! You heard right: You sweet, little, oh so innocent baby sister rode that big dick and she fucking loved every second of it! How do you like that?!"

Now everyone looked at Ruby, astonished by her sudden aggressiveness. The crimsonette was breathing heavily by now, balling her fists and clenching her teeth as she tried to calm down after this speech. Apparently, lots of bottled up emotions had broken loose.

Suddenly, Weiss noticed something weird about Ruby's eyes. For some reason, they seemed... darker than usual. Was the light playing a trick on her? The heiress closed her eyes and shook her head, then she took a second look. Much to her confusion, she didn't notice anything odd anymore. Maybe she was just imagining things.

"Sorry...", Ruby sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "But it had to be said. It's my life and as much as I appreciate that you want to look out for me, I want to live it myself."

Yang needed a moment to process all of this. Ruby had just told her that she had sex with the Ice Queen and it was her who wanted it in the first place, not Weiss. The little girl that ate cookies for lunch and still wore strawberry print panties had slept with the Ice Queen. Of course, Yang had been about Ruby's age herself, probably even younger, when she started to be interested in these sorts of things, but she had always thought that her sister was a bit different. However, this wasn't the case, the blonde realized: Ruby was just a normal girl with normal emotions and desires. Maybe her speech had been hurtful, but deep down Yang knew that her sister was right.

"T-that's... okay, I guess. I... really went a little overboard this time.", she admitted, "I just thought that Weiss was forcing you to do something like that... with her being older and you, well..."

"Well, that's not the case.", the crimsonette explained, now much calmer but still a little pissed off.

"You're right... it was stupid of me to jump to conclusions, just because you're a little younger than us.", the blonde apologized, "You've gotten a lot more mature over the last year. I... just want you to know that I want only the best for you... in my own, weird fashion."

"And I want _you_ to know that you'll always be an important part of my life and I love you.", the younger girl said conciliatorily, "But still... It's just that I can't stay your _baby_ sister forever... but I'll always be your sister." Now that she had blown off her steam, she was slowly becoming her usual self again.

"Yeah, I get that...", Yang sighed gloomily, "But it's... It's hard to accept that you don't need me anymore."

"I'll always need you.", Ruby responded with a reassuring smile, "Just not... for everything. So, are we good again?"

"Sure thing, sis.", the blonde agreed and added a little sheepishly, "Sorry I got so angry."

"Ditto.", Ruby said and pulled her sister into a hug, "But you don't need to be so over-protective anymore. Weiss would never hurt me or force me to do anything I don't want... besides studying." The last remark lightened the mood a little and earned the crimson-haired girl a small giggle from her sister.

"Ahem...", Blake suddenly cleared her throat, "Speaking of Weiss... I only can speak for myself, but I'm pretty curious why she has a... well, a penis in the first place."

Yang wriggled herself out of her sister's embrace and looked at the heiress as well: "Yeah, I want to know, too. So, is this one of your summoning things? Some kinky stuff to spice things up?" She almost completely asked out of curiosity now but there was still a hint of grudge in her voice.

Now all eyes were on Weiss again, who went as pale as her dress in the process. Her member was flaccid again by now, but everybody knew what they had seen.

"N-no... it has n-nothing to do with my summoning abilities... it's... well, you see...", the white-haired girl stammered, trying to find the right words.

"You don't have to tell them if you're still uncomfortable about it.", Ruby hastily said, "Isn't that right, guys?" The last part was spoken almost pleadingly.

"No, Ruby. I-it's okay.", Weiss sighed, but it was obvious that she was afraid, "They have seen it already and, as I owed it to you about a month ago, I owe them an explanation as well. T-there's no point in postponing this any longer. And... even if they think I'm a... a freak... I-I still have you, right?" Even though she tried to hold it back, her eyes had started to tear up a little.

"Always.", Ruby said soothingly and gave her girlfriend a comforting smile, "But they'll understand. I promise."

"I hope so...", the heiress sighed again. Then, she told her story.

* * *

"Wow... that was... one of the saddest things I've ever heard in my life.", Blake said, still pretty shocked after her white-haired friend had revealed what her father had done to her.

"Weiss... I... had no idea...", Yang stammered, completely at a loss for other words.

"Now you know why I am... how I am.", the heiress responded, "...how I was before Ruby and I got together." She was currently sitting on her bed with her girlfriend next to her, while Yang and Blake sat on Blake's bunk. The white-haired girl had been afraid of telling her teammates about the experiments that were forced upon her, but, just like Ruby had promised, they showed a lot of sympathy.

"My Rose Petal saved me that night... when I wanted to end it.", Weiss continued and pulled her girlfriend close to her, "Pretty weird that one of the worst days of my life became one of the best. The first one I actually felt... accepted."

"And you really poisoned yourself with some experimental drugs just to... not have sex with my sister too soon?", Yang asked further.

"Yeah, she did.", Ruby answered and shot the heiress a scolding look, "And it was one of the most stupid things anyone had ever done, including me. And that's why we... got intimate... the first time. I wanted Weiss to feel more comfortable with herself."

"If I hadn't seen the thing between her legs, there would be no way I would've believed this story.", Blake pondered but, after Weiss gave her a confused look, she quickly added, "But don't worry. We don't think that you're a freak at all. If anything, you're just a victim of a cruel experiment. If there's anything we can do to help you, please don't hesitate to ask and don't... pull a Blake on us." The last sentence earned her a small smile from everyone else.

"I still can't believe that someone would do something this horrible to his own child.", Yang said suddenly, now angry for a different reason, "If this guy wasn't one of the most powerful men in all of Remnant, I'd give him a taste of my fist."

Weiss was really amazed at how supportive her teammates were, even after Yang had snapped at her mere moments ago. Apparently, she really had found true friends here at Beacon... as well as something even better. She rested her head on Ruby's shoulder and smiled contentedly.

"Umm... can you do me one last favor?", the heiress asked, "I'm really glad that you took all of this so well, but I don't know how other people might react. So, please don't tell anybody about this. For now, my... condition mustn't leave this room."

"Don't sweat it, princess. Your secret's safe with us.", Yang said and added with a chuckle, "We won't tell anyone about your... Weissicle." Ruby and Blake only groaned at this terrible pun. Weiss, however (and she could hardly believe it herself), let out a small giggle. She was glad that Yang took it well enough to make her stupid jokes. It made her feel accepted again.

"But only under one condition.", the blonde suddenly continued ominously and Weiss' good mood immediately faltered. But what came next made her sigh in relief.

"Only first base stuff is happening inside of this dorm room while either Blake or I are present. It doesn't matter if we're sleeping, or in the bathroom, or whatever. And _if_ (she said that word with a hint of annoyance) anything else happens in here while we're away, it happens in your bed alone. Not on the floor, or the desk, or in the shower, _nowhere_ else. And you're going to clean up after yourselves _instantly_ so we don't have to see any... evidence.", Yang finished.

"O-of course.", Weiss said with a heavy blush, "It's not like we're some kind of sex-crazed animals."

"I remember that differently...", Ruby corrected that quietly with a grin.

"Ruby!", the heiress exclaimed and went even redder.

"You're making this so easy, Snowflake.", the crimsonette giggled and gave her girlfriend a quick kiss on the lips.

"Whatever...", Yang sighed, but still gave the young couple, and especially Weiss, a reassuring smile, "Even though you're... the way you are, we won't treat you any different. We're friends and a team, after all. Isn't that right, Blake."

"Absolutely.", the Faunus seconded, "We've got your back and we always will."

"Thank you so much.", Weiss said, smiling as well, "It really means a lot to me."

"Don't thank _me_ too soon, princess.", Yang responded with a mischievous grin, "As long as it's just us, brace yourself for some really tacky puns and jokes. I mean, now you're an even better target."

"As if I thought it would be any different.", the heiress replied, but her smile didn't falter, "I know that's your brutish way of showing that you're okay with it."

"Exactly.", the blonde said, "Wait... brutish? Hey, I'm a lady. More than you, at least. Pow! First blood."

Even though it was a Yang-joke, Blake and Ruby (although the latter tried to hide it at first) started to laugh, and after a few seconds, Weiss joined them as well. It was a liberating, relieving laughter that washed away all the tension and awkwardness from earlier. Now, team RWBY was closer than ever before... and the heiress finally got an idea of what the word _family_ really meant.

* * *

Nothing else of importance happened on this Sunday – but after this rather uncomfortable episode, everybody of team RWBY was pretty thankful for that.

Yang and Blake didn't go on their shopping trip since the blonde simply said she _wasn't in the mood anymore_. However, it was pretty obvious that the real reason for this was that she didn't want Ruby and Weiss to do anything lewd. The heiress even wanted to address it and tell her teammate that they wouldn't do something like this today after everything that had happened, but she knew the brawler wouldn't believe her anyway. Therefore, Weiss just kept her mouth shut and encouraged ( _forced_ , in Ruby's opinion) her girlfriend to continue with her studies.

But the heiress was actually a nicer tutor than the younger girl had thought. She let her take a lunch and dinner break without further discussions and even allowed her to copy the most difficult parts from her, something even Blake and Yang raised an eyebrow at. Eventually, the crimsonette managed to finish going through all of her teammates' notes and completing the assignments. Weiss was pretty proud of her girlfriend and, since she had managed to motivate this pretty difficult student, also of herself.

Finally, Ruby got to watch her cartoons on her Scroll, something she did almost every Sunday, but usually in the morning. Since the white-haired girl had been a little demanding during their study session, she didn't object her girlfriend's choice of entertainment to make it up to her. The young couple got comfortable on the heiress' bed again, Ruby leaning into Weiss this time, and started the stream.

To be honest, the white-haired girl didn't mind the childish and stupid cartoons one bit as long as she could cuddle with her girlfriend. She didn't really pay attention to them anyway. Ruby was way more important and a lot more interesting: the flowery smell of her hair, the comforting warmth of her body, the pleasant vibrations the heiress felt whenever the younger girl giggled at one of the jokes... Weiss never wanted to let this adorable dolt go.

Suddenly, the show was interrupted by the beeping of Ruby's Scroll which had received a text message.

"Who the hell wants something of me at a Sunday evening?", the crimsonette asked herself slightly annoyed and freed herself from the embrace (much to her girlfriend's dismay) to grab the device.

"Just ignore it.", Weiss sighed whiningly and tried to pull Ruby back into the hug.

"Can't do that, Snowflake.", the crimson-haired girl replied with a grin, "You once told me to sort out my priorities. This message could be important, after all."

"Stupid Past Weiss and her stupid attitude.", the heiress cursed at herself and earned a giggle from her girlfriend who then checked her Scroll.

"Huh? They want me to come to the medical ward after classes to do a few more echo thingies and stuff.", Ruby said after she had read the message.

"Really? Why?", Weiss asked confused.

"Oh, I totally forgot to tell you.", the younger girl remembered and turned around, "Before I left on Friday, they told me to come back every few days for some checkups because of the coma stuff."

"That's... actually a good idea, I guess.", the heiress pondered, "You were out for almost three days, after all. Can I come with you?"

"Aww... are you worried about me?", Ruby asked with a sweet smile.

"Of course I am. You're my girlfriend.", Weiss answered matter-of-factly.

"Don't worry, I'm totally fine. The tests they did on Friday proved it.", the crimsonette explained, then her smile turned a little more seductive, "But of course, I don't mind a little company tomorrow. Especially such cute company."

"Ruby Rose... I hope you don't have any... ulterior motives by flattering me.", the heiress said and returned the smile.

"Wouldn't dream of it, Snowflake.", Ruby whispered. Then she leaned in for a kiss and, of course, Weiss didn't object in the slightest. Quite the contrary: the moment the crimson-haired girl pressed her lips to her own, the heiress pulled her girlfriend even closer. Now that she didn't need to worry about her teammates discovering her secret anymore, she was even more comfortable with their relationship and the exchange of affection.

Of course, the young couple knew that they couldn't do everything they wanted – Yang had been quite clear about this. Therefore, after their tongues had danced around each other for a while, they broke the kiss, settled down on the bed again and continued to watch their cartoons. Tomorrow, regular classes would start again and the daily routine would eventually catch up with them.

But for now, Ruby and Weiss could just enjoy their time together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww... another happy ending. I'm really spoiling you guys, don't you think? But don't worry. I promise something bad is about to happen again sometime.
> 
> Good thing that Weiss' teammates are so accepting and supportive, though – even Yang, after she had been so... Yang-y... at first. But hey, I guess you would also show a little sympathy when you would hear that a friend was a victim of a cruel experiment in their childhood that made their whole life miserable and they even tried to kill themselves because of it... twice. Anyway, Ruby and Weiss have made the next huge step (even though they didn't plan to) and can stop worrying about another thing now.
> 
> Please leave a comment and stay tuned for more. Next chapter will probably have a little less plot and/or character development, but I'm pretty sure you're still going to enjoy it... if you catch my drift.


	25. You Don't Need to Worry About Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn it... Didn't want this chapter to be so long in the first place. Well, shit happens. Sorry that it took so long but I went a little overboard again. Anyway, enjoy.

The alarm went off way too early this morning. Ruby let out an annoyed groan as she tried to block out the offending noise by turning around and burying her head into her girlfriend's cleavage. Unfortunately, Weiss' boobs were a bit too small to function as earmuffs... but at least it was a pleasant feeling.

"I'm starting to think that you want Yang to kill me...", the heiress sighed sleepily, "What exactly are you doing down there?"

"Trying to block out the alarm.", Ruby groaned and tried to bury her head even deeper, "Classes bad. Cuddling with Weiss good. Easy choice..."

"Can't argue with that logic...", the white-haired girl giggled and pulled her girlfriend even closer, already feeling a familiar (although weak) tingling in her nether regions, "But you know that we have to get up eventually, right?"

"No...", the crimsonette whined, "Let's just stay in bed forever."

As appealing as it sounded, the heiress knew that it was impossible. Also, the longer her girlfriend would stay with her head buried in her cleavage, the likelier she would end up with a boner she had no use for at the moment. They needed some privacy, and soon... but not now. Now she needed to get Ruby out of bed. Suddenly, an idea struck her.

"And what about your dream of becoming the greatest Huntress ever?", Weiss asked with a sly grin, "You can't do that from bed, you know." She knew exactly how to push the younger girl's buttons.

"There's always a catch, isn't it?", Ruby sighed, separated herself from her girlfriend, rolled over and turned off the alarm on her Scroll.

"Thank you...", Yang's sleepy voice echoed through the dorm room, then she ungracefully jumped out of bed, "Guess it's back to everyday's life, huh? No fewer classes anymore."

"It was nice as long as it lasted.", Blake yawned, sat up and stretched herself.

"Well, whatever. First shower's mine.", the blonde said, "You guys get up as well. Would be a real shame to be late for Oobleck's _awesome_ history class." The last sentence was spoken with a fair amount of sarcasm.

The other girls got out of bed as well and started to prepare for the day while Yang grabbed her school uniform and left for the bathroom to shower. Letting the blonde take the first one on a school day was usually a bad idea since she tended to take the longest time. Chances were that the other three girls wouldn't get their turn before they needed to leave for classes... it had happened before. Fortunately, after _only_ twenty minutes, the brawler was done.

"Shower's all yours.", Yang said as she stepped out of the bathroom, fully dressed but still drying her blonde mass of hair with a towel.

"I hope you saved us some hot water.", Blake said with a hint of annoyance and grabbed her clothes, determined to take the next.

"Probably. I tried to make it a quick one.", the blonde responded with a shrug, "Now hurry up. I'm not in the mood for detention. Oobleck already has his eye on me because I took a nap in his last class."

"It's not our fault that you need centuries to wash your hair.", the Faunus explained dryly before the bathroom door fell shut. Blake wasn't exactly a morning person.

"You're just jealous of my beautiful, golden locks.", Yang shot back with a grin while she continued to towel her mane.

"Maybe Weiss and I can shower together to save some hot water and some time, too.", Ruby suggested and gave her girlfriend a flirtatious look, which caused the heiress to blush.

"Forget it!", her sister responded annoyed, "I thought we had gotten the rules straight yesterday."

"We would just shower. Promise!", the crimson-haired girl tried to appease her sister but to no avail.

"Ruby, just leave it be.", Weiss said and put a hand on her girlfriend's shoulder, "We all know that we most certainly wouldn't just shower, which won't save any time at all."

"Exactly.", Yang agreed, "Try to keep your hands and... other things to yourself. And if you _really_ can't do that, then at least don't let me know about it. Call me prudish, but I'm not interested in every detail of my younger sister's sex life."

"We get it, Yang.", the heiress responded, "And as I told you yesterday, Ruby and I aren't some sex-crazed perverts that are going to hump each other's brains out the moment we get a chance to do so. Don't always assume the worst of us."

A blatant lie. Weiss knew that she was just one Blake-and-Yang-absent minute away from jumping her girlfriend's bones and taking everything Ruby was willing to give her. Stupid Dust-enhanced hormones!

"Sorry... I'm trying to trust you guys more, but I still need some time to get used to this new... situation.", the blonde said conciliatorily, "Giving up 'Big Sister Mode' isn't exactly easy for me. Especially now that I know one of you has a schlong."

"Please don't call it that way.", Weiss requested with a frown, "A little over a month ago I was ready to cut it off as someone found out, so talking about it so casually takes some time to get used to as well."

"By the way, I know that your thing was created by Dust, but does it work like a normal one?", Yang suddenly asked, "And if so, how are you not afraid of accidentally... getting Ruby... well... urgh, y'know." Even though the blonde couldn't bring herself to say this particular word, her teammates got what she was trying to say. Also, it was weird that this thought hadn't crossed her mind sooner.

"Oh, don't worry. I took care of that.", the crimson-haired girl chirped, "No little Rubies and Weissies by accident."

"And... how exactly?", her sister pressed further.

"Umm... I'm eighteen on this fake ID you got me, so I can buy birth control pills by myself.", Ruby explained, "Therefore... You could say that you were the one who made all of this possible in the first place. So... Thank you, I guess?"

"Let's just change the topic before I kill myself.", Yang groaned.

* * *

After team RWBY had showered (all of them separately, of course), they took off to the main building to attend their classes. Yang had made sure that her Scroll's battery was full, so she would survive Oobleck's history lecture. Blake reminded her that their teacher already had it in for her, but the blonde just shrugged it off. And so, the inevitable happened: Before the lecture was even over, Yang could look forward to two hours of detention on the next Saturday.

Since it was mostly the members of team JNPR that sat near them in the lecture halls, Ruby and Weiss didn't have to be too secretive about their relationship and could hold hands without being afraid of anybody else noticing. Ruby's handwriting with her off-hand had improved significantly by now, meaning that one could actually read her notes with a little effort... and imagination.

Of course, the young couple didn't do anything else than just holding hands. Weiss was too much of a disciplined student to do anything that would interrupt her studies and Ruby didn't want to suffer the same fate as her sister. Additionally, it was too risky to share a quick kiss or something like that. Weiss might've become a lot more comfortable with their relationship, but that didn't mean she wanted anyone besides her friends to know yet.

* * *

"I still can't believe that Oobleck gave me detention.", the blonde groaned after the final bell had rung. They were currently on their way back to the dorm room to drop off their school supplies.

"We got it the first time, Yang.", Blake sighed, "But what did you expect? Last Thursday you slept in class and annoyed everybody with your snoring... and today you played a video game and weren't exactly quiet doing so, either."

"So now I get punished for my enthusiasm to slay Grimm?", the blonde responded, "I thought this school was all about encouraging that."

"It was a _video game_.", Weiss said, tired of her teammate's excuses she had heard all day now, "In class. Where you should actually study how to kill Grimm."

"And since when had history something to do with killing Grimm?", Yang asked annoyed but as soon as she noticed that her white-haired friend was about to give her a lecture on the topic, she quickly added, "I know. I know. Everything has to do something with history. If we can't learn from it, we're destined to repeat it. Yada yada yada..."

Admittedly, her choice of words could've been better, but at least it was enough to appease Weiss and therefore to avoid another speech about the importance of her least favorite class.

"Change of subject.", Blake suddenly said, "Any idea how to kill time until dinner? I know it sounds weird but I don't feel like reading at all after all these lectures. Geez, I already forgot how much we had to do before this whole 'fewer classes' thing."

"Yeah, me too.", Yang admitted. "How about a nice game of 'Remnant' to relax... even though you don't stand a chance against me."

"I have to go to the medical ward for this check-up stuff.", Ruby announced glumly, "It's probably going to take a while and I don't think I'll be back until it's already time for dinner."

"I'm going to accompany her, so I'm out, too.", Weiss explained, "I want to assure myself that everything's alright since I haven't been at the medical ward when Ruby woke up."

"You don't need to worry about me so much.", the crimson-haired girl reassured her girlfriend, "I'm as fit as a fiddle." To prove her point, she used her Semblance to dash around the little group two times, before she came to a halt next to Weiss, resting her elbow on her girlfriend's shoulder.

"Showoff...", Yang simply said and waved away a few rose petals. Ruby simply stuck her tongue out at her.

"Hey, we could drop off your stuff at the dorm room and you can go straight to the medical ward.", Blake suggested with a friendly smile, "This would save you at least some time."

"It would be a lot more efficient than going to the dorm and then back to the medical ward.", Weiss pondered and handed the Faunus her purse, "Thanks a lot."

"Umm... I need my backpack because of... uh... stuff.", Ruby stammered as her teammates gave her an expectant look, "So I can... umm... study a bit more. Yes! That's why. The check-up will probably take pretty long, so I'm going to keep my stuff to busy myself."

The rest of her team only raised an eyebrow at her sudden rambling and Yang let out an "Ooo-kay.", but at least they seemed to believe the story. Of course, the crimsonette couldn't tell her teammates (especially Yang) why she really needed her backpack.

"Well, see you later in the cafeteria then, I guess.", Blake said as she and her partner were about to leave, "And good luck with the tests, Ruby. I hope everything's alright with you."

"Me too, of course.", Yang seconded.

"Everything _is_ alright with me. It had already been on Friday.", the crimson-haired girl responded, "I'm just going to this checkup because I have to. See you guys later."

Then, she and her girlfriend waved her teammates goodbye and went to the medical ward while Blake and Yang returned to the dorm room.

* * *

The check-up was over rather quickly and showed the same results as the one on Friday. Ruby was perfectly healthy, at least it seemed that way. It was still unknown why the girl had been out cold for so long. However, the doctors still took a lot of samples from her: blood, urine, hair, and so on. They knew they were expected to find something, otherwise, Professor Ozpin wouldn't have insisted on these additional check-ups.

"Urgh... I hate needles...", Ruby pouted childishly and rubbed her arm, "Why do they need so many blood samples anyway? The tests showed that I'm fine."

"Stop your whining already, you big baby.", Weiss chuckled, still overly glad that the tests had showed her girlfriend was okay, "You got stung by a Grimm with a stinger almost as large as you and you're still scared of a little blood test?"

"Just because I don't like it doesn't mean I'm scared.", the crimsonette responded, "I'm a super badass Huntress, after all."

"The super badass Huntress still wanted me to hold her hand when the nurse came with the syringe.", Weiss replied with a grin.

"This woman was about to stick a needle in my arm!", Ruby explained herself.

"Aww... does my little Rose Petal have a booboo?", the heiress teased, which caused her girlfriend to roll her eyes in annoyance, "Do you want me to kiss it better?"

"Umm... maybe...", the crimson-haired girl answered, suddenly deep in thought for some reason as she glanced over her shoulder.

Weiss only raised an eyebrow at this action and continued: "Aaanyway, let's meet up with Blake and Yang at the cafeteria. It's almost time for dinner and I guess returning to the dorm room is kind of pointless now."

"Well... umm...", Ruby pondered, "There's... something... I need to take care of first. And I... umm... kind of need your help. So, follow me, okay?"

"Oh, alright. What is this about?", the heiress asked.

"Uhh... that's a secret.", the crimsonette avoided the question, "Just... Let's hurry, so we won't miss dinner." Then she grabbed her girlfriend by the hand and pulled her along with her.

"Wait, Ruby!", Weiss wanted to reply but was already dragged through the corridors.

* * *

They wandered around Beacon for a while. The white-haired girl had no idea what her leader had in mind as she was forced to follow her. Any questions about what Ruby was up to were simply ignored by her. Admittedly, Weiss could just pull her hand away and demand an answer, but for some reason, she didn't. Also, it was really pleasant holding her girlfriend's hand, even though it wasn't that easy to keep step with her. Soon, they arrived at Ruby's destination: the gym. The crimsonette pushed the door open and dragged her girlfriend into the empty room.

"Ruby, what are we doing here?", Weiss asked confused, "I'm not really in the mood for some sparring."

"We're not here for a sparring session.", Ruby explained and turned left to the locker room, then she added in a sultry voice, "At least not _that_ kind of sparring session."

The crimson-haired girl pulled her girlfriend into the locker room with its different shower stalls in the back and closed the door behind them. Then she dropped her backpack and immediately started to kiss Weiss passionately afterwards. At first, the heiress was too shocked to react, but then she regained her composure and pushed Ruby away.

"W-what are you doing?", she gasped and stared into her girlfriend's half-lidded eyes.

"Make a guess...", Ruby answered lustily and approached the white-haired girl once more.

"W-wait... we can't do something like that in here.", Weiss exclaimed and took a step backwards.

"Why not? The gym's empty and I didn't hear any noises from the outside training grounds, either.", the crimsonette explained, "Everyone is in the cafeteria. They have jam rolls for dessert today. We have the whole shower for us for probably an hour."

The heiress had to admit that her girlfriend was right – it was highly unlikely that anyone would come to the training grounds during dinner time, even though she doubted it had to do anything with the cafeteria's choice of dessert. And, of course, Weiss wanted to do what Ruby was suggesting as well. Although she had masturbated on Saturday, she had been horny again in the evening already. Also, jerking off paled in comparison to actually having sex with her girlfriend.

Ruby embraced Weiss tenderly and rested her forehead on the white-haired girl's. "Please, Snowflake.", she whispered sensually, "It's been over a week since we did it the last time. And I'm a young, horny teenager craving for your touch. Don't let me down."

The heiress returned the embrace and placed a soft kiss on Ruby's lips. She had made up her mind long before the crimsonette's pleading. Therefore, there were only two words appropriate for this situation after Weiss broke away from her girlfriend:

"Strip. Now."

Ruby let out a small giggle of consent and pressed her lips to Weiss' once again. Meanwhile, her hands started to undo her corset while the heiress got rid of her bolero. Then, both girls simultaneously came to the conclusion that undressing themselves was only half the fun than undressing each other – therefore, they changed tactics. Soon, their hands were roaming over each other's bodies, discarding clothes whenever they could (or, to be more precise, whenever they weren't busy groping something). When they were stripped down to their underwear, Ruby suddenly broke the kiss.

"Let's put our clothes in my locker and move this into one of the shower stalls, just in case.", she panted heavily, unable to look her girlfriend in the eyes since she was focused on a pretty big appendage that strained the heiress' panties, threatening to rip them apart.

"F-fine with me.", Weiss agreed but then she reconsidered, "Wait... if we get wet, how..."

"Already taken care of.", Ruby simply said, opened her backpack and pulled a towel, a blow dryer and two sets of underwear out of it.

"So that's why you wanted to keep your backpack. You planned all of this, didn't you, you naughty girl?", the heiress said with a grin but dropped it shortly after, "Hey, did you go through my underwear drawer?"

"Maaaybeee...", the younger girl responded with an innocent smile, then she stuffed everything back into her backpack and afterwards the backpack along with their clothes into her locker, "Now take off your bra and panties so we can finally go for the main course. The wait is starting to kill me." A large wet spot on her plain, white panties was proof of this.

"As you wish, my Rose Petal.", Weiss responded with a seductive smile, her girlfriend's invasion of her privacy already forgotten. As soon as she got rid of her bra, Ruby let out a joyful "Yay! Boobies!". Weiss only rolled her eyes at this statement, but her smile didn't falter: She was rather happy that the crimsonette liked her breasts... mostly because there wasn't exactly much to like.

But when she took off her panties as well, it became clear that Ruby liked another part of her body much more. Pulling down her last piece of clothing and standing up again caused her already fully erect member to bob up and down and the crimsonette's eyes followed its every movement. The younger girl then licked her lips hungrily, which caused Weiss to blush.

"Umm... Ruby? I don't want to interrupt your staring but I'm starting to feel a bit embarrassed being to only one naked.", the white-haired girl said and tried to cover her body with her hands and arms. Luckily, the crimsonette got the hint.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry.", Ruby said sheepishly and scratched the back of her head, still staring at her girlfriend's erection, "I was kinda... distracted by... well..." Then, she snapped out of her gawking and got rid of her underwear, too. Afterwards, she struck a sexy pose as she presented her naked body to her girlfriend.

Now it was Weiss' turn to stare. Ruby's body never ceased to amaze her: This perfect balance between muscularity and femininity, her moderate, but perky breasts, her wide hips, her strong, slender legs... The heiress swallowed hard to keep herself from drooling over this mesmerizing sight. The crimsonette only grinned as she noticed that Weiss' brain was on the brink of shutting down just because of her naked form.

"You're so beautiful...", was all the white-haired girl could whisper, mostly to herself but Ruby heard it anyway.

"So are you.", the younger girl replied with a smile, "So... Should we move this into a shower stall?"

"Yes, please...", Weiss breathed, needing a fair amount of willpower to look back into Ruby's eyes, even though these silver orbs were just as mesmerizing as her sexy body.

Ruby took her girlfriend by the hand and led her into one of the stalls. After turning the water on and adjusting the temperature, she then started to kiss the white-haired girl once again. Weiss immediately pulled her girlfriend as close to her body as possible. Her dick slipped between Ruby's thighs and the heiress slowly started to thrust, enjoying the soft, warm and now wet skin.

However, the crimson-haired girl had other things in mind. After a few seconds of passionate kissing and tongue-fencing, she started to trail down a path of kisses along Weiss' body, over her neck, her collarbones, the valley of her breasts, her smooth stomach. It didn't take long before she was on her knees. The younger girl grasped the rock-hard member in front of her, a small smile appearing on her lips as she felt it twitch at her touch.

"How about we start with this?", Ruby asked enticingly and gave the big cock a slow, sensual lick from base to tip. The action caused Weiss' breath to hitch.

"Y-you don't have to...", the heiress responded blushing. Even though Ruby had done this before, anything besides traditional sex was still a bit awkward to the white-haired girl.

"Don't worry, I'll go easy on you.", the younger girl said with a grin, "You'll probably go off like a gun after a week of restraint."

Before Weiss could tell her that this wasn't exactly true, she felt Ruby's soft lips on the tip of her dick and forming coherent sentences (or even thoughts) became impossible. A tongue that swirled around it mere seconds later didn't make speaking or thinking any easier, but the heiress couldn't care less because her mind went blank with pleasure. Comparing what Ruby was doing to her right now to what Weiss did on Saturday by herself was like comparing her Dust rapier to a butter knife... made of rubber.

Okay, that comparison might be a little stupid, but it was the best one the white-haired girl could think of with her currently limited brain capacity. Everything that was not Ruby-related faded further and further into the background as Weiss bit her lower lip to stifle a moan, while the muffled ones of her girlfriend sent pleasant vibrations through her body.

Apparently, Ruby had a different understanding of _going easy on her_ , because soon she engulfed the first couple of inches of her lover's member with her mouth. The heiress could keep herself from letting out a surprised yelp by biting her lower lip even harder, almost drawing blood if it wasn't for her Aura. Yet, the needy whimper that found its way out of her throat was all the motivation the crimsonette needed to start bobbing her head up and down, already tasting her girlfriend's pre-cum.

"D-Dust... y-you're amazing...", Weiss managed to croak out and held onto the nearest wall to prevent herself from collapsing since her legs were slowly turning into jelly. The praise caused Ruby to smile (well, as much as she could, given her current situation) and she redoubled her effort to pleasure her girlfriend. She sped up her movements, almost taking the white-haired girl's dick into her throat, swirling her tongue around it even faster and jerking off the part she didn't swallow – she wanted to live up to Weiss' compliments, after all.

If one would ask the white-haired girl, Ruby already was... or had been since she had started in the first place. The heiress tried to think of something different so she wouldn't cum too soon, like classes, homework or chores, but she couldn't focus on anything but these silky lips that were wrapped around her cock or the warm wetness of this amazing mouth. It was a completely different wetness than the one the shower head provided, a way warmer, way better wetness. Made that thought sense? Weiss wasn't sure, but it didn't matter.

After two or three minutes of bobbing her head up and down the length, gently sucking on it, and listening to the sweet hums and moans of her girlfriend, Ruby decided to step it up a notch. She had gotten used to the large intruder by now, so she took a deep breath through her nose and tried to relax her throat. She knew that the next step would be a little uncomfortable at first, but it would drive her Snowflake crazy – and that was exactly what she wanted.

This time, Weiss couldn't stifle her yelp as she suddenly felt the extreme tightness of her girlfriend's throat around the head of her cock. She wanted to say something but the speech center of her brain seemed to have shut down completely. The crimsonette's gags weren't as bad as the first time she did something like this, yet, they were there. And they were massaging Weiss' member even more.

Unfortunately for the heiress, Ruby was about to be right with her earlier guess. As soon as the younger girl was deepthroating her, Weiss felt her orgasm approaching. How the hell was this girl so good at this? The heiress squeezed her eyes shut, trying to hold back her orgasm, but she was at her limit. She considered to tell her girlfriend to stop for a moment so she could recover, but it felt just too good. Therefore, the thought was discarded as soon as it appeared on her mind.

Meanwhile, Ruby tried her best to massage her girlfriend's huge member with her throat muscles while continuing to move her head. She already felt the heavy flow of pre-cum that went straight down into her stomach and she knew that Weiss was close. The shaft started to throb and thicken deep within her mouth and the white-haired girl's breathing turned irregular. The crimsonette sped up her movements even more, briefly considering to use her Semblance but deciding against it. She didn't have to anyway, because...

"R-Ruby... I-I'm...", Weiss tried to warn her, but it was too late. The rest of the actual sentence was replaced by a high-pitched shriek as her orgasm hit her like a rampaging Boarbatusk and every fiber of her body was burning with pleasure.

The younger girl had originally planned to pull away in time but (ironically) wasn't fast enough. The first wave of thick, hot cum was pumped directly into her stomach before she could even react. She backed away, only for the second jet to fill her mouth, puffing out her cheeks with the sheer amount. Then, Weiss' cock finally slipped from her lips and painted her face and hair in an alabaster-colored mess. At first, Ruby was too surprised to point it away, but after the fourth or fifth shot, she managed to push it down a bit, even though her vision was pretty limited by now. The last, but still copious eruptions of cum hit her neck and chest, making the water that ran down her back feel pretty cold in comparison.

Weiss didn't know how she had managed to stay on her feet. Her legs felt like she had run a hundred miles. As usual, her vision was blurry and her ears were ringing, but both senses slowly returned to normal.

Nevertheless, the heiress felt amazing, overwhelmingly loved and satisfied, and she knew that she would never grow tired of this feeling. Ruby never ceased to amaze her, nor she would ever in the future. Weiss was absolutely sure of this as she looked down at her girlfriend affectionately. Then, she noticed the younger girl's cum-plastered face which brought her back to reality completely. Her initial blush turned even redder.

"Oh my gosh, Ruby!", she exclaimed as her girlfriend spat out an almost cartoonishly large mouthful of her essence, "I'm... so, so sorry. I didn't mean to..."

"Don't sweat it, I'm fine.", the crimson-haired girl chirped, stood up again and wiped the white substance off her face, "It's a real shame to let it all go to waste, though, but I want to eat something real for dinner... even though your stuff is pretty tasty." Then she licked her fingers clean.

"Why do you always have to say this lewd stuff?", Weiss sighed and looked away sheepishly.

"Because it's the truth.", Ruby replied with a grin and stepped into the shower stream to wash off her face properly, "Another advantage of shower sex: The mess is self-cleaning." She let out a little giggle as she rinsed the last bit of cum out of her hair.

"That... definitely comes in handy.", the heiress agreed, her breath still a little uneven.

"But I see we're far from finished making a mess.", the younger girl suddenly said and her gaze went downwards. As Weiss looked down herself she noticed that her dick hadn't softened in the slightest. It wanted more... no, _she_ wanted more. Also, Ruby hadn't cum... yet. Something Weiss wanted to change.

"Umm... should I give you some... oral attention, too, or...", she pondered, not really knowing how to express herself.

"No, I'm good. Even though I really liked what you did back on our mission.", the younger girl replied in a seductive tone, "But I can't wait any longer for the main event. I need you inside of me."

"As you wish, my Rose Petal.", Weiss said with a loving smile, but then she got a little insecure again, "So... how do we do this?"

To answer this question, Ruby made a few steps back and leaned against the tile wall, then she curled her index finger in a come-hither gesture. In an instant, Weiss followed her, mashing their wet bodies and, of course, their lips together. Her tongue immediately slipped into Ruby's mouth, her hands settled for her neck and hip, and her throbbing dick was trapped between their forms as they made out. But this wasn't where the crimsonette wanted it at all.

Even though Ruby begrudged doing so, she pushed her girlfriend away after a few seconds. At first, Weiss was a bit confused, but the moment she felt slender fingers around her cock she realized what the younger girl had in mind.

"What part of _I can't wait any longer_ didn't you understand?", Ruby breathed lustfully and with a little smile as she looked the white-haired girl deep into the eyes, "We can continue to kiss after we've taken care of _this_." The moment she had spoken this last word, Weiss felt the tip of her dick against her lover's entrance and both girls let out a little moan.

"Take me.", the crimsonette whispered and Weiss was happy to oblige.

"With pleasure.", she responded and pushed forward.

As always, it took a little time and effort to fit her girthy dick into Ruby's tiny pussy, but after a few prods and thrusts, the tip finally slipped inside. The moment it happened, the younger girl let out a happy squeal as she felt her silky tunnel stretch to accommodate the large intruder. The noise Weiss made in the process sounded more like a growl, but it was laden with pleasure as well.

"S-so _tight_!", the heiress hissed through clenched teeth.

"So _huge_...", Ruby moaned in response. She buried her head in the crook of Weiss' neck and pressed her lips against it, sucking hard and most certainly leaving a hickey. However, both girls were far from caring about this.

Encouraged by the crimsonette's reaction, the heiress pushed her member a few inches further into her girlfriend, earning another appreciative moan in the process. A small bulge appeared on Ruby's stomach again but it didn't bother her in the slightest. All she could concentrate on was the amazing sensation of being thoroughly filled by Weiss' huge, throbbing cock. In a fit of wantonness, the younger girl hooked one of her legs around her girlfriend's waist, trying to pull her in even further and succeeding doing so.

The heiress bit her bottom lip incredibly hard once more to muffle her whimper as she felt her dick sliding even deeper into Ruby's velvety canal. The slick passage molded perfectly around it and quivered with lust. Soon, her dick reached Ruby's cervix, nudging against it and releasing a big glob of pre-cum directly into her womb. Weiss wanted to back away again and slowly start thrusting but the crimsonette's leg tightly locked around her waist prevented this.

"Do you know what I noticed just now?", Ruby suddenly half-asked, half-moaned, a seductive grin on her face, "You never had been fully inside of me... yet."

"Well, I'm r-rather large and...", Weiss began to explain, needing all her concentration to form a coherent sentence since her girlfriend's wonderful inner walls were still massaging her member, "...and I d-don't want to hurt you."

"You're not hurting me in the slightest, Snowflake. Quite the contrary.", the younger girl purred with half-lidded eyes as she looked down at the bulge on her stomach, "And I'm a _big girl_ , too, y'know." She giggled a little at her last remark.

"What do you mean?", the heiress asked. She kind of knew where this was going and her dick twitched hard in excitement.

"I want you.... ohholycookies... I want you completely inside of me this time.", Ruby moaned, "The whole thing. As deep as possible." To emphasize her point, she pulled Weiss closer to her body with her leg. The white-haired girl's dick was pressed tightly against her cervix now, already forcing it a bit open but without actually penetrating it. This action caused it to twitch even stronger now and the crimsonette to moan louder in the process. But it wasn't enough – she wanted, needed more!

"A-are you really sure you want...", Weiss began anew but wasn't able to finish her sentence. With all the three limbs she had available at the moment, Ruby pulled her girlfriend as close as possible, allowing her to enter her deepest depths again. The second Weiss' cock pierced through her cervix and entered her womb, the crimson-haired girl let out a shriek of pleasure, muffled by the crook of Weiss' neck again. Then, all of her sexual frustration was washed away in an instant.

Ruby's uterine orifice wasn't the only thing that gripped the heiress' member tighter than a vice now. Her whole pussy clenched down hard around it as the younger girl's orgasm hit her. Weiss needed a fair amount of willpower not to cum again because of these heavenly contractions that milked her dick for all it was worth. Ruby's body trembled erratically while she clung to her girlfriend for dear life, her mind completely blank besides one thing: She wasn't done yet.

She had promised Weiss to take her to the hilt and she wanted to live up to that promise. As far as her body allowed it, she lowered herself even further down the enormous length that impaled her. This, of course, prolonged her orgasm and she almost collapsed if it wasn't for Weiss' hand that grabbed her butt to hold her up. However, the heiress' grip was no match for Ruby's determination and, after a few seconds, their hips finally met.

The white-haired girl felt her dick tightly pressed against the back of her girlfriend's stretched womb. It felt way too good to even question how Ruby had been able to fit every bit inside of her body. But even though she wanted to cum so badly, too, she still held back. She wanted to last longer, forever actually (of course, she knew that was impossible), not wanting to let this wonderful feeling go. Fortunately, the contractions of her girlfriend's insides became less and less, announcing the end of her orgasm and giving Weiss a breather. The vice-like grip on her cock softened... slightly.

After her climax was over, Ruby slowly recovered and regained her senses. It was now that she noticed that she had succeeded – and how thoroughly filled she felt. Yet, she didn't feel any pain, just a weird, but not exactly uncomfortable tension in her stomach. She didn't care anyway. All that mattered was that she and Weiss were one... completely. It made her happy, and also kind of proud of herself.

"See?", Ruby breathed and looked down at the now very prominent bulge on her usually flat belly which was now slightly above her navel, "A-all in there."

"I still can't believe that this doesn't hurt you.", Weiss panted, "I mean, my thing isn't exactly supposed to be that deep in there."

"Someone should really research how Aura plays into sex.", the crimsonette said, "Or if somebody already has, we should definitely read it. Or correct it."

"Are you really alright, Rose Petal?", the white-haired girl asked, still a little concerned.

"Even better than alright.", Ruby responded with a loving smile, "I feel... complete."

With these words, she pulled the heiress into a passionate kiss, entwining their tongues and running her hands over her lover's wet form affectionately. This was heaven. It felt like she and Weiss were sharing the same body. She could even feel Weiss' pounding heartbeat through her dick and she was sure that the white-haired girl could feel hers too – not that the tip of the huge appendage wasn't very far away from the responsible organ at the moment.

While they made out, the heiress slowly started to move inside of her girlfriend, causing both girls to moan into each other's mouths. The crimsonette's velvety walls clung tight to her cock, apparently not wanting to let go a single inch of it. Weiss made sure to only make short thrusts anyway, so her dick wouldn't slip out of Ruby's womb since it had been pretty difficult to get inside there in the first place. Not that this circumstance bothered the crimsonette – the delighted sounds she made were proof of that.

* * *

Suddenly, the young couple heard the door to the locker room swing open. Both girls immediately fell silent and froze in place. Ruby instinctively wrapped her other leg around Weiss, too, just in case someone would look through the gaps, even though this was highly unlikely. The white-haired girl almost slipped because of this but managed to keep her balance, leaning further into the wall for additional support.

Then, the couple heard a few young sounding voices, probably from some first-year students.

"You guys go ahead, I'm gonna grab a quick shower."

"C'mon, you can just shower back at the dorm room and it's already dinner time."

"But I'm all sweaty and smelly."

"So what? We're too. Now let's go, they have jam rolls for dessert today. If we don't hurry, they will be all out."

"Yeah! C'mon, Sherry. We're a team now. Let's be all sweaty and smelly together and get these delicious treats."

"Okay, fine. But dips on the first shower when we get back."

"You got it!"

Then, the chatting and giggling grew distant and the door fell shut. However, Ruby and Weiss still waited another thirty seconds before they allowed themselves to breathe again. Nothing could be heard anymore besides the running of their shower. They were, without a doubt, alone again.

"Holy shit, this was a close call.", Weiss panted, "Thank Dust this girl took off again."

"Nah, even if not, we'd have been good.", the crimson-haired girl responded, her breathing also somewhat uneven, "And by the way, your dick got harder and twitched a lot more when you heard someone enter."

"What?! N-no, it didn't.", Weiss tried to lie, even though she knew the crimsonette was right – she had felt it, too. Something about this situation had been... arousing?

"Admit it. You got excited when we were about to get caught.", Ruby teased and, as her girlfriend looked away sheepishly, she added with a shit-eating grin, "Well, well, well... does my Snowflake have a little fetish?"

"S-shut up, you dolt!", Weiss hissed with a flustered expression.

Then, the crimson-haired girl's grin turned into a seductive smile and she just whispered: "Make me!"

The white-haired girl's reaction came immediately. She kissed her girlfriend with all the fervor of her heart and started moving her cock again, slowly at first but steadily picking up the pace the longer they went. The response of Ruby's insides were affectionate contractions that massaged the heiress' member and tried to suck it back in every time it was pulled out. Soon, both girls were rutting like animals, barely trying to keep their moans down anymore. If it wasn't for their kissing that muffled their grunts and squeals (a bit...), the young couple could most certainly be heard even outside the locker room.

Weiss' thrusts grew fiercer and more expansive by the second, ravaging Ruby's silken tunnel and, in addition, her womb. They broke the kiss to catch their breaths, resting their foreheads together. As they looked down, the young couple watched the bulge on Ruby's stomach which almost completely vanished and then reappeared according to Weiss' movements. The whole sight was just as bizarre as it was arousing – therefore, the young couple didn't even question it.

Both girls were rushing towards climax rapidly. The heiress was hammering into her girlfriend with everything she had by now, while Ruby tried to match her thrusts to push Weiss' cock even deeper, slamming her hips down onto the enormous appendage that brought her so much pleasure. The shower stall was filled with moans, gasps, squelches and a million other lewd noises, and if they weren't in their own, blissful world at the moment, they would probably be somewhat embarrassed about themselves. Soon, the white-haired girl felt her second orgasm of the day approaching and she knew she couldn't hold back any longer, even if she wanted to.

"R-Ruby... I'm g-going to...", she panted, only to be interrupted by her girlfriend's soft lips that caught her own and robbing her off of her breath.

"Me too...", the crimsonette whimpered lustfully when she finally pulled away, "Keep going. Fuck me. Ravage me! FILL ME UP!"

As if the heiress had waited for this command, her climax finally hit her with an intensity that she thought she would faint. With a final thrust, she slammed hard into Ruby, pressing her into the wall behind them and their bodies together as close as possible. Weiss let out a primal scream that somewhat sounded like her girlfriend's name, then she started to spasm uncontrollably as she filled the younger girl with her seed.

Wave after hot wave of cum rushed directly into Ruby's womb. The crimsonette had been sure it wouldn't be much since Weiss had cum once already in the last half hour or so. However, she was grievously mistaken: What her girlfriend had released during her blowjob didn't compare to what she was pumping into her now. After the first few jets of spunk, Ruby's womb was already filled to the brim, but the white-haired girl was far from finished.

The moment the younger girl felt the first gush of cum crashing into her baby chamber, she joined Weiss in orgasm. Her insides contracted violently around the throbbing and spurting member, milking it for everything the heiress had to offer – and they were about to get it. Weiss showed no signs of stopping anytime soon even as Ruby's stomach slowly started to swell with the burning hot essence. And since the younger girl's cervix had an airtight seal on the heiress' cock, her womb had no other choice but to expand to accommodate to the huge amounts of semen. Soon, she looked like she was at least three months pregnant.

As their climaxes started to subside, both girls were too exhausted to stay on their feet. The young couple slid down the wall they were leaning into until they reached the tiled floor. Weiss rolled over and her dick slipped out of Ruby's well-fucked pussy before the heiress used the last bit of strength that hadn't left her body to snuggle up to her girlfriend's side.

The crimsonette looked at her Snowflake lovingly with half-lidded eyes, then down to her inflated mid-section. She felt something warm between her thighs, much warmer than the water of the still running shower. Apparently, some of Weiss' jelly-like cum had already started to dribble out of her womanhood but most of it still sat in her womb and probably wouldn't follow without a little help from the outside. Not that the younger girl cared at the moment anyway.

"I... love you... so much.", Weiss panted as she slowly regained her composure.

"I noticed...", Ruby panted back and patted her swollen belly affectionately. But the moment she noticed that her girlfriend started to turn away from her sheepishly, the crimsonette quickly kissed the top of her head and added: "I love you, too."

They lied in the shower stall for a few moments while recovering, kissing and caressing each other, enjoying the afterglow of their sweet lovemaking. However, they knew they couldn't stay in there forever. They were pretty hungry, even more so now. Also, their teammates were probably wondering about their whereabouts. Weiss addressed it first.

"Don't you think it's about time we meet up with Yang and Blake at the cafeteria?", she asked.

"Hmm... I guess you're right.", Ruby responded, "You can go ahead. You need longer to dry your hair, anyway. I guess I need a moment to... empty this out." She rubbed her belly again and, despite the shower noises, both girls heard Weiss' load sloshing around inside of her womb quietly. The heiress blushed slightly at the sound, Ruby, however, just smiled.

'Someday, this beautiful, warm feeling will mean that Weiss and I made another human being.', she thought dreamily. But this would have to wait until they had graduated and gotten married. For now, she had to get rid of her girlfriend's cum since her bloated mid-section would probably weird other people out.

"I'll leave you to it then...", Weiss said and gave Ruby another quick but tender kiss, "See you outside." Then, the white-haired girl staggered to her feet, went for the door and, after she had made sure that nobody was outside, left the shower stall.

'Okay... let's get this done.', the younger girl thought, 'Sorry, swimmers. I know it's probably pretty cozy in there, but I can't afford to keep you right now.'

She slowly started to push down on her inflated stomach to get rid of Weiss' cum. On the one hand, it seemed to work. On the other hand, it had some undesired side-effects. The moment Ruby felt the heavy flow of spunk gushing out of her still sensitive pussy, it almost gave her another miniature orgasm. She stopped her actions immediately and bit her lower lip, trying but not completely succeeding to stifle a moan.

'Well... this is going to be harder than I thought...', the crimson-haired girl pondered as she noticed that her belly had barely gotten any smaller.

* * *

After they had cleaned themselves up and fixed their hair and clothes, Ruby and Weiss realized that dinner was almost over. If they wanted to eat something this evening, they needed to hurry. Fortunately, the crimson-haired girl's Semblance was speed. Weiss let out a small shriek of protest the moment Ruby picked her up bridal style, and a much louder one when she was rushed through the corridors. It was an unpleasant way to travel, but rather effective, nonetheless. Still, the white-haired girl had no idea how her girlfriend could make use of her Semblance without getting sick all of the time.

When they arrived at the cafeteria, the jam rolls were already out. Not that the young couple cared; it was a necessary sacrifice to have some _quality time_. Nevertheless, their latest activities had left them pretty hungry. Ruby grabbed herself a tomato soup as a starter, a Salisbury steak with mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables, a cupcake, a candy bar, and a grape soda. Weiss went for the soup as well, chicken fricassee with rice, an apple and a banana, a glass of orange juice and a glass of water.

The young couple soon spotted their teammates sitting at a table in the back. Blake was reading something and Yang was fumbling with her Scroll, a hint of annoyance in her expression. A moment later, Ruby's own Scroll buzzed in her pocket. Apparently, team Bumblebee had been waiting for them the entire time. Not wanting to let them wait even longer, Ruby made her way through the cafeteria to reunite with her friends. Weiss made sure one last time that the hickey her girlfriend had given her was somewhat covered by the collar of her bolero, then she followed suit.

"You sure took your sweet time getting here.", Yang addressed them the moment she spotted the two girls.

"Hey, guys!", Ruby chirped and sat down next to her sister, "Sorry it took us so long."

"Yeah, these doctors at the medical ward were pretty thorough.", Weiss added and sat down next to Blake, then she downed her orange juice in one go.

"Well, someone's pretty thirsty here.", Blake said and raised an eyebrow, then she observed her teammates' trays, "And pretty hungry, too." Admittedly, Ruby was always kind of a glutton, but Weiss, on the other hand, usually ate only a little bit of fruit in the evening. This odd behavior caught Yang's attention as well.

"Wait a minute...", she began and, after she had made sure nobody was listening to them, she continued, "You guys didn't... did you?" Then she noticed the hickey at Weiss' neck and sighed annoyed: "I can't believe you..."

Weiss only blushed at this statement and averted her gaze, but Ruby simply replied: "Well, we have our needs, y'know. And since you won't leave us alone, we have to take any chance we get."

"So much for "We aren't some sex-crazed perverts.", huh?", the blonde huffed, "I hope the dorm room is clean. We talked about this, after all."

"The dorm room is as clean as you left it.", the crimsonette explained, "No need to worry about that."

"What do you mean?", Yang asked confused and added a little angry, "I hope you didn't do it in the shower!"

"Well, not _our_ shower...", Ruby answered, now blushing a bit as well, "We... kind of... went to the gym. And before you say anything, we didn't have much of a choice after all your rules and the constant, umm, survai... servi... watching over us."

"Surveillance. But she has a point, Yang.", Blake said with a shrug, not even bothering with looking up from her book she had continued to read.

"Yeah, fine, I get that.", the blonde sighed in defeat, "Let's just change the topic. But before we do that, at least tell me which stall you used so that I'll never step into it by accident... or to burn it down just in case."

"Compared to her reaction to your love life yesterday I would call this progress.", the black-haired girl chuckled behind her book, ignoring an annoyed look from her partner. Ruby and Weiss couldn't help but giggle as well.

"If you want me to go ballistic again, we could go back to that. I don't mind.", Yang simply said, but also started to smile a little after Ruby gave her a comradely nudge with her elbow.

Then, the young couple dug in, Blake read her book and Yang tried not to think about her teammates' sexual activities anymore – it was none of her business anyway. Her sister wasn't a child anymore. She deserved to be happy and Weiss, of course, too, after everything she had been through. And if a shag in the shower would make that happen, then so be it... as long as it wasn't _their_ shower.

After all the worries and awkward moments they had gone through the last couple of days, everything finally seemed to be somewhat fine for once.

* * *

Late this night, Professor Ozpin stood in his office and looked out the window, observing his school. He absentmindedly sipped his by now cold coffee, deep in thought. How the hell could this happen? Who was responsible for this? And, most importantly, how to deal with this new situation?

"Come in.", he said calmly, a second before the person on the outside of his office was actually knocking. Then, the door swung open and Professor Goodwitch entered the room, a clipboard in her hands.

"Good evening, Glynda.", Ozpin greeted without turning around to face her.

"Professor Ozpin. I'm sorry to bother you this late.", the blonde teacher began, "But I thought you should know about this. About Miss Rose, the..."

"I guess I already know...", the headmaster interrupted her, not rude, but serious, "The laboratory was able to find some black kind of matter in Miss Rose's blood. But as soon as they tried to filter it out, it evaporated."

"H-how did you...?", Glynda asked confused since his guess was right on the money, "So what is this all about?" Apparently, the headmaster knew something she and everybody else didn't.

Ozpin just let out a deep sigh and took another sip from his mug, still not facing his colleague.

"Professor Ozpin, please.", the blonde teacher pressed, "If you know something that concerns the safety of our students, I need to know immediately."

"Make sure the rest of Miss Rose's blood samples are sent to Atlas' medical specialists as soon as possible.", the grey-haired professor said calmly, "Meanwhile, I'll try to make... arrangements regarding her condition."

"You still didn't answer my question.", Glynda exclaimed sternly, "And, with all due respect, I won't leave until you tell me what you know about the girl!"

"I don't exactly _know_ something.", Ozpin responded, "But I have an assumption, a highly disturbing one, to say at least."

"Stop beating around the bush!", Glynda almost-yelled, slowly getting angry, "What's going on with Ruby?!"

The headmaster let out another deep sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. Then, finally, he turned around to face the blonde. Professor Goodwitch immediately saw the wrinkles of worry on his face. Something must be seriously wrong. Suddenly, there was an awkward silence.

"Well...", Ozpin said eventually, "What comes to mind when we have to deal with a black matter that evaporates as soon as the... _life_ , if you want to call it that way, leaves it?"

Glynda just stood there, unable to respond anything, and a terrified expression was covering her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "How to ruin a perfectly fluffy and smutty chapter 101": Add an ominous statement in the end.
> 
> Another pretty long chapter (the longest so far, I think) to wrap up the second arc of this story, from Ruby and Weiss attending their mission to the big reveal of Ruby's condition after the Grimm's sting. I hope you enjoyed the ride as much as Ruby enjoyed hers in chapter 16, where the world was still in order and everything was better. Well, not much, but still...
> 
> Nevertheless, we're still far from done. What exactly will this Grimm-illness do to our favorite scythe-wielder? How will the staff of Beacon try to cure her? Will Atlas' medical specialists find an answer? Maybe other, more questionable researchers can help? Nobody knows... well, I know, but I still have to write it. So please be patient.
> 
> As always, tell me what you think of this chapter in the comments. It's probably a little unusual to read a futa story with that much plot, but I'm trying to be different, after all. Also, I'll make sure that the fluff (and the smut, of course) won't disappear... even though you can probably expect a little more drama in the future. Stay tuned!


	26. Arrangements

"We're getting our own room?!"

Saying that Ruby and Weiss were confused was an understatement as Professor Goodwitch broke the news to team RWBY. The blonde teacher had approached the four girls on Tuesday after sparring class to tell them that their leader and her partner were moving into a separate room tomorrow.

"I know this is kind of sudden, but I hope you understand.", Glynda said, "The staff is currently thinking about changing the living situation of the third- and fourth-year students so they won't have to live in these little rooms in a group of four. You were chosen for a _test run_ , so to speak. If it goes well with a team of second-years, we're probably going to establish this system."

"But what about our teammates?", Ruby asked, not very fond of the idea of her team to be split up, "Won't this affect our... umm... bond stuff?"

"These changes of the teams' living situation will only affect the older students in the future _if_ we're going to apply them.", Professor Goodwitch explained further, "We expect the bond of a team to be strong enough to survive something simple as different dorm rooms after a whole two years of living together. Also, of course, the partners can visit each other's rooms freely, meaning their Scrolls will be able to unlock both doors of their own and their teammates' room."

"But why us exactly?", Yang wanted to know, "I know we're incredibly awesome, but there are other second-year teams just as good as us for this _test run_."

"You are doing exceptional so far, both in academics and combat abilities. And you have an incredibly strong bond, considering that you are pretty... diverse characters. Therefore, Professor Ozpin chose you for this.", the blonde teacher answered, "And, as I said, it's just an experiment for now. These changes will only be temporary."

Of course, Glynda just said what Ozpin had told her to tell them – a small white lie so team RWBY won't get suspicious. The headmaster had stressed the importance of keeping Ruby's state of health a secret for the time being. Scaring the girls, and especially the crimsonette, would only be counter-productive until they had found out more about these weird Grimm and what had caused the infection.

The real reason why the headmaster split the team was another one, a highly unpleasant one. He had long since noticed the slight changes in Ruby's personality and was certain that this was just the beginning. So, in case the crimsonette snapped someday, Ozpin wanted to make sure that as few as possible students were in danger. _If_ Ruby went berserk somewhere along the line, it would be best if the teachers dealt with it... whatever it had to be they would deal with at that time.

However, completely isolating her from her friends was most certainly a bad idea, too. Isolation would bring loneliness and loneliness was one of the negative emotions the Grimm fed on. Therefore, it would probably accelerate the reactions within the crimson-haired girl's body. Abandonment, sadness, anger, fear... Team RWBY's leader would probably react very strongly (and very badly) to all of these emotions.

And, at last, there was another reason Ozpin changed the living situation the way he did, even though it was highly speculative. Grimm were drawn to negative emotions; that was a fact. Ruby reacted strongly to these, too, given the changes in her personality. So what if any kind of positive emotion would keep the crimsonette emotionally stable and delayed the progress of her illness? Just an assumption, of course, but the best plan they had at the moment.

However, it grieved the headmaster deeply that Weiss had to serve as a guinea pig for this assumption, but he had no choice. Maybe her romantic relationship with Ruby (and a little more _privacy_ ) could provide these much needed positive emotions and, as a result, give the researchers more time to learn more about the crimsonette's condition, or even find a cure. Also, if the younger girl's changes of personality became more severe, maybe she wouldn't hurt her girlfriend because of her feelings. Of course, Ozpin didn't tell Professor Goodwitch about the girls' relationship – he knew it wasn't his place to tell anybody about this.

Would, could, maybe, probably... Beacon's headmaster had a very bad time at the moment.

"I advise you to start packing up your belongings and expect you to be ready to move into your new room by tomorrow.", the blonde teacher finished her speech, addressing Ruby and Weiss, "Some staff members are going to pick you up at six in the evening, after classes. Of course, you and the rest of your team will gain extra credit for participating in this experiment. You're dismissed." Then, Glynda took her leave, leaving a still very confused team RWBY behind.

"Well, that was a thing...", Ruby said and looked at her teammates with raised eyebrows, "What do you guys think about this?"

"I guess we have no choice.", Weiss sighed, "Professor Ozpin has explicitly requested that _we_ take part in this test run. Also, a little extra credit is always welcome."

"As if you need it, princess.", Yang responded, "But I guess my overall grade could use a little boost. Especially because history is getting me down." Weiss' quiet "I wonder why" was ignored by her.

"And it's not like we won't see each other again.", Blake tossed in, "Also, now we can get rid of these deathtraps of bunk beds. It's a miracle that none of us has gotten hurt by now."

"Hey, the constructions I came up with are perfectly safe.", Ruby responded, personally offended, "I build immensely complicated weapons from scratch, so making some bunk beds it's a piece of cake for someone of my skill. These things were built to last forever."

However, she internally crossed her fingers for their bunk beds not collapsing at this very moment just to prove her wrong. Of course, the crimsonette was highly skilled in any kind of craftsmanship, but anything that hadn't had something to do with weapons was sooo boring. Therefore, she just had come up with a half-assed solution... which still lasted to date. Maybe she had unconsciously hoped for the bunk beds to actually crash so she could've slept with Weiss in her bed until the beds' replacement, even though she wasn't aware of her feelings for the heiress at that moment.

* * *

When the four girls were back in their dorm room, Ruby and Weiss immediately started to pack their things. Professor Goodwitch would most certainly not be pleased if they weren't ready to move by tomorrow. Blake made herself comfortable on her bed and continued to read something as usual, while Yang climbed up to hers and started to fumble with her Scroll, probably playing a game or watching a movie.

"There's one good thing about this whole separate room stuff, though.", the blonde suddenly said after a few minutes.

"What is it?", Blake asked curiously and dropped her book for a moment. The other girls stopped packing and looked up as well.

"Well, at least my lazy ass won't have to climb up here anymore after a hard training session now that I can sack out in Weissicle's bunk.", Yang explained, then she added cautiously, "You guys didn't do the do in there already, did ya?" This caught the young couple by surprise.

"No, Yang. We hadn't _been_ _intimate_ in our bunk yet.", Weiss responded, a bit annoyed (and embarrassed) by the blonde's choice of words. However, Ruby topped it.

"Yeah. The first time we were about to, you and Blake kind of cockblocked us.", the crimsonette added casually, causing her girlfriend to blush furiously and Yang to laugh mercilessly at the heiress' priceless expression.

"Ruby!", Weiss gasped, "I told you a thousand times not to say things like that so nonchalantly."

"But it's the truth, isn't it?", Ruby responded with a shrug.

"That doesn't make it any better.", the white-haired girl explained and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Aww... is little Weissy a little prudish?", Yang teased with a shit-eating grin, "Getting embarrassed over a few dirty words?"

"I'm sorry for having a little decency.", the heiress huffed, "And I'm pretty sure Blake shares my point of view." She looked over at her Faunus friend, hoping for a little backup. But it never came.

"I think _cockblocked_ describes it accurately.", the raven-haired girl said and a sly grin appeared on her face as she noticed that the heiress shuddered slightly at the repeat of the word, "Hey, if you can come up with a shorter, more precise expression, be my guest."

"You're all terrible.", Weiss sighed defeated and continued to pack her things.

"Aww... don't be like that, Snowflake.", Ruby purred and snuggled up to her girlfriend from behind, "We didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable... right, guys?" The last two words were spoken with emphasis.

"Yup. Just messing around like always.", her sister agreed, "I'm pretty sure that's expected of me by now."

"And I have to be on Yang's side from time to time, otherwise she'll get a little... cranky.", Blake said, earning a chuckle from Ruby and Weiss and a slightly annoyed look from the blonde, "What? Most of your jokes are awful."

"You guys just have no sense of humor.", Yang huffed now and returned her attention to her Scroll.

"I'm going to miss our little teasing sessions.", Ruby said with a hint of melancholy as she let her girlfriend go and went back to packing up her clothes.

"We're just sleeping in different rooms.", Weiss explained soothingly and gave her girlfriend a warm smile, "We'll still hang out all the time. We're best friends. Almost nothing's going to change."

"I'm right there with Weiss in that matter.", Blake agreed, "After all we've been through together, I don't think separate rooms will affect our friendship in any way."

"I hope you're right.", Ruby sighed, still not fond of the idea of her team splitting up.

"Don't worry, sis.", Yang chirped, "I promise I'm going to spend extra time with you so you won't get lonely."

"A noble intention, indeed. But this sounds a lot like an excuse to check on us so we... won't do anything lewd.", Weiss said, a faint blush covering her face at the last part.

"You mean _cockblocking_ you?", the blonde asked grinning, even wider as Weiss let out another annoyed sigh, "Relax, Ice Queen. If Rubes really want you the get in her panties, I guess I have no other choice but to live with it. But at least put a sock on the doorknob so I don't walk in on you getting freaky."

"Sometimes I wish you had never found out about me dating your sister.", the white-haired girl said flatly, "Or at least about... the other stuff."

"Believe me, me too.", Yang responded nonchalantly.

* * *

Wednesday's lessons flew by and before the girls of team RWBY knew it, it was five o'clock and school was over. Since Ruby and Weiss would have to move in an hour, all of them decided it was best to go back to the dorm room. Even though the crimson-haired girl still found the idea of separate rooms a little weird to get used to, she knew that she and her girlfriend would at least have a lot more _privacy_ then. A shiver went down her spine just at the thought of all the... possibilities.

Fortunately, she and Weiss had been able to pack all of their stuff yesterday besides some of their school supplies they still had needed for today and one fresh set of clothes. At six o'clock sharp, two members of Beacon's staff showed up at their door to lead the two girls to their new room. The girls of team RWBY grabbed a moving box each (Yang two), then they followed the two men through the dorm.

It still took them three more trips to move everything over, though, mostly because of Weiss' lavish wardrobe and her ridiculously large Dust storage. The room itself was a typical dorm room with a closet and a bathroom, but way less cramped since it was just meant for two people. There were two beds (even though Ruby and Weiss would probably only need one), a desk next to the entrance, a sideboard and one large window. Add bunkbeds and it would look pretty much like their old room.

"There you go. That was the last one.", Blake panted as she dropped the box she was carrying on the ground, "That actually went faster than I expected."

"We would've gotten this done even faster if it wasn't for Weiss' two hundred suitcases of Dust.", Yang responded, "Anyway, at least it was a nice warm-up. I'm going to hit the gym now. Get me a sandwich or something for dinner when you're going to the cafeteria."

'Thank Dust she hadn't had this idea two days ago.', Weiss thought, blushing slightly at the memory of Monday's... events.

"I think I'll join you.", Ruby suddenly said, "It's been a while since I worked out the last time." While that was true and the crimsonette really wanted to train more frequently again, it was also a nice excuse to procrastinate unpacking – two birds, one stone. However, Weiss knew exactly what was on her mind.

"Oh no, you don't.", the white-haired girl exclaimed sternly, "We still have all of our stuff to unpack and you're not going to bail on me on this."

"C'mon, Snowflake. I skipped a lot of training the last weeks because I wanted to spend my time with you. And as much as I enjoyed this, I need to work out from time to time to get stronger.", Ruby explained and gave her girlfriend her trademark puppy-dog eyes, "Also... I want to keep in shape for you." Her expression then changed into a much flirtatious one. Weiss didn't stand a chance.

"Fine...", the heiress sighed in defeat, "But promise me to get back after you're done with your training to help me with all of this stuff." 'And maybe I'll _reward_ you tonight.', she added in thought.

"Promise!", Ruby chirped and grabbed a set of gym clothes from one of the boxes, "I'll be back in two hours tops. See ya later. Love ya, Snowflake." Then she gave her a kiss on the cheek and left for the training grounds with her sister.

"You know she can play you like a fiddle, right?", Blake said after the door had fallen shut.

"I don't mind...", Weiss replied a bit dreamily and ran her fingertips over her cheek.

* * *

Even though Ruby had barely worked out over the last month, training surprisingly felt easier today. It wasn't as exhausting as she thought she would be and the weights she normally used didn't feel as heavy as she remembered – even her scythe seemed to be a lot lighter. However, the crimsonette had no idea why. She didn't look more muscular than usual, nor she felt especially energized today. Maybe it just had to do something with the extra warm-up from carrying the moving boxes.

After her training session, she said goodbye to Yang to help Weiss unpacking their stuff. It still felt weird not to go back to the same room as her sister but Ruby knew she had to get used to it eventually. Even if this was just an experiment at the moment, chances were high that they would be split up permanently when they would be third-year students. At least she would still live together with her girlfriend then. With this in thought, she returned to her new room.

"Hey there, Snowflake.", she chirped as she passed through the door, "Your Rose Petal is reporting for unpacking duty." However, she found the room nice and tidy, almost void of any boxes.

"Welcome back, Rose Petal.", Weiss replied, sitting at the desk studying but looked up the moment she heard Ruby's voice.

"Where are all the boxes?", the crimsonette asked confused as she scanned the room.

"Blake stayed a little longer and helped me to unpack some of our stuff.", Weiss explained, "She knew it would unnerve me to sit in a messy room, so she lent me a hand. All that's left is our clothes but I didn't want to start unpacking these without you... since I'm not going through other people's underwear.", she finished teasingly.

"You've already seen my most risque pair of panties, AND what's beneath them, so I wouldn't have minded.", Ruby simply replied, "By the way, did you get me something to eat? I totally forgot to ask you to bring me something."

"There's a turkey and ham sandwich and a grape soda on your bunk.", Weiss explained and pointed to the tray on top of the right bed, "Oh, and I even got you some chocolate chip cookies."

"I'm so going to marry you someday.", Ruby said affectionately and gave her girlfriend a soft kiss on the lips, then she went to her bed and grabbed her sandwich. The heiress blushed a bit at Ruby's comment, but she couldn't help but smile from ear to ear.

'I guess it wouldn't hurt to look for rings the next time I'm in Vale...', Weiss thought happily, 'Just look, of course. No rush... We're still teenagers.'

* * *

After the younger girl had eaten and showered, the couple continued to unpack the last bit of their stuff. When they were finally finished, it was a half past nine already.

"Whew... all done.", Ruby sighed and collapsed onto her bed. Not that unpacking a few clothes had been overly exhausting but she might've overdone it a little at the gym today after all.

"At least we won't have to deal with this stuff tomorrow now that we've finished it.", Weiss explained and went back to the desk, "And we won't need to do something like this until we move back into our old room... and then again when we move into another room when we're third-year students. Damn it, the next year is going to be annoying."

Ruby only nodded at this statement. Of course, she was usually excited about new things, like when she had gotten to Beacon, but carrying her stuff around the same dorm every few months didn't quite count. She let out another sigh and relaxed into the mattress while her girlfriend continued to read who knows what.

"So? What do you wanna do now?", the crimsonette suddenly asked. Unlike her sister, she wasn't exactly a fan of _chilling_ – the concept of doing nothing without being bored shitless was a mystery to her. Of course, Ruby already had something in mind but she wanted to know if the heiress was up to it first.

"I'm going through the notes of our last Grimm Studies lecture, just in case.", Weiss answered, "Maybe you want to join me?"

"Meh... Port always announces his tests and he barely asks any questions in his classes.", the younger girl responded, "And I thought about something more _fun_." She spoke the last word with emphasis, hoping her girlfriend would catch her drift.

"Well, I'm almost done anyway.", the heiress said, "Maybe we can watch another movie on your Scroll and relax after this rather exhausting day."

"Is there reeeaaally nothing else you can think of?", Ruby purred and started to chew on her bottom lip seductively. Finally, Weiss got the hint.

"Oh... you mean...", the white-haired girl said as she had processed everything, already feeling a familiar twitching in her nether regions by the thought of it, "Well, we _are_ alone and nobody's probably going to interrupt us this late."

"So... that means?", the crimsonette asked expectantly, stood up from the bed and walked over to the desk, making sure to sway her hips alluringly.

Weiss looked at her girlfriend, then at the book on her desk, then back to Ruby, before she slammed the tome shut and simply said: "Y'know what? Screw Grimm Studies. C'mere."

She had barely risen from her chair before the younger girl grabbed her by the collar and pulled her into a passionate kiss. The heiress slung both arms around her and pulled her closer while forcing her tongue into Ruby's mouth. A moment later she was spun around by delicate, yet strong arms and carried through the dorm room.

"Let's try out our new bed, shall we?", Ruby said lustfully after she had broken the kiss. Before Weiss could respond anything (her answer would've been a big _yes_ anyway), the crimson-haired girl gently tossed her onto the mattress and climbed on top of her, straddling her.

"I hope you're ready for me.", Ruby purred and wriggled her hips, feeling a powerful twitch of her girlfriend's dick against her butt.

"Any readier and we'd need to wash the sheets.", Weiss whispered sensually. If her member hadn't slipped out through one of her panties' leg holes again, it would've probably ripped them apart.

"We'll need to wash them anyway after I'm done with you, Snowflake.", the crimson-haired girl promised and captured her girlfriend's lips again.

* * *

Needless to say, they didn't study anymore this evening... or got much sleep this night, either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's that. More of a set-up for the next arc than an actual plot-related chapter and much shorter than the last ones. But I wanted to finish this interlude before I go on vacation over the holidays, so, well, there you go.
> 
> I wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy new year, folks. I hope I'll see you around in 2018.


	27. Little Red and the Big Bad Wolf

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, pals. LazyCatStuart is back in action. I hope you had nice holidays. I took some time to think about the pacing and how to move the plot along but now I have figured it somewhat out, I guess.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy the new chapter of 'I Could... If You Just Let Me'.

Over the next few days, team RWBY slowly got used to their new living situation. To be honest, barely anything had changed: They spent almost as much time together as before, either studying, working on assignments, training, or just hanging out and playing games. It didn't really matter that they were sleeping in different rooms. In addition, Ruby and Weiss found it rather convenient that they could have a little _fun_ in the evenings now without worrying about anyone anymore.

The crimsonette seemed especially restless these days. Every minute she didn't spend with her team or her girlfriend, she spent at the gym, training in general or practicing with her scythe. She even seemed a bit annoyed with classes (more than usual anyway), eating or sleeping. Ruby didn't know why, either, but somehow she had even more energy and no idea what to do with it.

And so it happened that team RWBY found themselves in a small town near Vale on a Search and Destroy mission this Saturday afternoon. It was an easy one, though: Some villagers had reported on a rather large pack of Beowolves that roamed the nearby forest. And while it wasn't exactly a threat to the town, it was probably better to take care of the creatures before they'd attack any hunters, lumberjacks or children playing outside.

To everybody's surprise, it had been their leader this time that had insisted on going on a mission for some extra credit, not the hot-headed blonde. But, of course, Yang was happy to participate, desperately needing a change of air after her two hours of detention with Oobleck. Ruby justified her eagerness by the fact that they needed a little training as a team after the partner missions. And even though her teammates assumed that this was probably not the only reason, they had to admit that their leader had a point.

"So let me get this straight.", Yang said and cracked her knuckles, "We're just going into the forest in the north-east, look for a pack of Beowolves, finish these suckers off, and that's it?"

"You haven't paid attention to the mayor, have you?", Weiss asked and crossed her arms in disappointment, "It's not going to be that easy. There are at least two Alphas in this pack, they seem to be pretty coordinated, and the terrain in the north-eastern forest is..."

"Into the forest, find the pack, bash 'em up!", Yang interrupted enthusiastically, "Should be a piece of cake. You guys ready?" An annoyed groan from Weiss was ignored by her.

"I was born ready.", Ruby responded, just as hyped as her sister, "I mean, not literally, but... well, you get the point."

"According to the eyewitness reports, the pack isn't _especially_ large.", Blake recalled the conversation with the town's mayor, "I'm certain we can handle it. Otherwise, the mission wouldn't have been available for second-years."

"Hmm... I guess you're right.", Weiss pondered, "As long as we take care, we're probably fine."

"Gooo teeeaaam RWBY!", Ruby chirped, "C'mon, guys. Let's make the world a better place."

Then, the four girls headed to the forest.

* * *

It didn't take them too long to track down the pack. Professor Port had told them so many times how he had chased down Beowolves when he had been an active Huntsman himself that they knew exactly what clues they had to look for. Apparently, his anecdotes were kind of useful, after all. Soon, team RWBY spotted about twenty of the black creatures on a clearing.

As quietly as they could, the four girls approached them to get a better look. The forest was pretty dense and hilly, and scrubs and fallen trees made it difficult to make way. Also, the leaves and twigs on the ground scrunched under their feet with every step, so they needed to be careful. When they were about three-hundred yards away, they hid behind a big, fallen oak.

"There they are. Handed to us on a silver platter.", Ruby whispered as she watched the Grimm wander around aimlessly on the clearing.

"The big one's mine.", her sister announced, referring to an Alpha in the middle of the pack, and readied Ember Celica.

"Not so fast, Yang. We need a plan first.", Weiss said carefully, then she turned to her girlfriend and asked with a small smile, "Do you have one, my fearless leader?"

"Pfft... they're only Beowolves.", the crimsonette responded disdainfully, "We're going to take them head-on." Then, she transformed Crescent Rose into its rifle mode.

"Ruby, wait.", Weiss whispered and grabbed her arm to hold her back, "There are actually quite a lot of them. We can't just attack them without a strategy."

The younger girl let out a displeased huff but collapsed her scythe again, nonetheless. Her girlfriend was right. What had she been thinking? Their opponents might be only Beowolves but it was a whole pack. Also, there could be more of them hiding in the area. And ensuring her team's safety had to be her top priority, the desire to kill something had to come second. Wait, what?!

Ruby shook the weird thought out of her head and concentrated on the task at hand. How to attack the Grimm, causing maximum damage at the lowest risk possible? Ranged attacks first, of course. The Alpha was the biggest threat, so it was probably best to take it out first. But would one bullet to the head kill it? Maybe it was better to freeze it in place and finish the pack off beforehand. But then again, it was probably not the only Alpha of this pack. Also, fighting between all these trees would be pretty difficult. Could they make it to the clearing somehow without being noticed immediately? Damn it! Why hadn't she come up with a plan back at the town?

"I'll flank them and take out the Alpha from a safe distance.", Ruby eventually announced, "When they're distracted, you guys try to make it to the clearing. We can't fight too well in this dense forest."

"But I called dibs on the Alpha.", Yang pouted but after she got a stern look from her teammates, she relented, "Fine... the plan sounds good. But be careful, sis."

"You got it.", Ruby said and left silently. Then, they put their plan into action.

* * *

The Alpha's head was clearly visible in Ruby's scope. The creature had no idea of what was about to happen. The crimsonette just needed to pull the trigger and its life would be over. Then, the rest of the pack would charge at her but they probably won't get her given her Semblance. The distraction would most certainly give her teammates enough time to get to the clearing. After that, everything should be a piece of cake. The plan was simple, almost too simple. There was no way something could go wrong.

However, Ruby was grievously mistaken. The loud bang of her sniper rifle echoed through the forest but the thud of the Grimm's corpse falling to the ground never followed. While Crescent Rose was easily able to take out a normal Beowolf with one shot, the bone-like armor of the Alpha's head was too strong to be penetrated by a bullet if not hit perfectly. Of course, the projectile found its target but simply glanced off, leaving the Grimm staggering and disorientated but alive... and angry.

Before the crimsonette could think of all the modifications she needed to make to her weapon so this won't happen again, the pack started charging at her, the Alpha right at the front. Even worse, even more Beowolves broke out of the forest, accompanied by another two larger variants of the species. It was at this moment that Ruby knew... she fucked up.

"Ruby!", Weiss screamed as she watched the pack closing in on her girlfriend. She sent a barrage of ice bolts to the Grimm, trying to distract them. However, the creatures didn't pay attention to her since they were following their pack leader. The shots of Yang and Blake were ignored as well.

"Get out of there, sis!", the blonde shouted and started to charge at the Beowolves, her eyes flaring red. She would save her sister or die trying.

Of course, her teammates followed suit, even though it was highly unlikely that they'd reach their leader before the Beowolves. From the distance, they saw how Ruby unfolded her scythe completely, awaiting her enemies. She had realized too late that she couldn't run away, even with her Semblance – the terrain was too rough and the vegetation too dense to make good use of it. Also, she was more or less surrounded now by the new opponents. Fleeing wasn't an option anymore.

She would most certainly not be able to take them out by herself, though. Her teammates knew this, therefore, they tried to come to her rescue as fast as possible. Hopefully, their leader could defend herself long enough until they were there to help. The pack had almost reached her... then, something odd happened.

One mighty swing of Crescent Rose, accompanied by a feral roar of Ruby, immediately cut the approaching Alpha in half, along with two other Beowolves. It even chopped a nearby tree down. If the crimsonette's teammates weren't so busy worrying about her at the moment, they probably would've questioned how this strike could've been so powerful – her leader had barely moved. However, this changed a second later: As another Grimm tried to lunge at Ruby, all it sunk its claws in was a cloud of rose petals, only to be sliced into pieces from behind afterwards. The young girl spun her scythe around as if it was weightless and every Beowolf that dared to come into range was slaughtered mercilessly in the blink of an eye.

The rest of team RWBY had finally closed up to their leader and joined the fight. Weiss quickly dashed to Ruby's side and backed her up, yet, she watched out not to get hit by the expansive swings of her scythe. The crimson-haired girl's fighting style had always been a bit reckless but now it seemed like she was trying to cut a swath through the forest all by herself and the Beowolves just got in the way.

Anyway, Weiss tried her best to fend off everything that tried to attack her girlfriend from behind while dodging Crescent Rose and one or two trees. Blake was targeting scattered Grimm, going for the quickest and least dangerous kills in order to thin out the rest of the approaching pack. And Yang (being Yang) shot and beat up everything that came into sight, furious about these despicable creatures that wanted to hurt her beloved sister.

However, her brute methods were rivaled, maybe even surpassed by Ruby now. The crimsonette swung her scythe at everything that looked like a Beowolf. If nothing was within reach anymore, she dashed to the next group to continue the slaughter, and it got more and more difficult for Weiss to keep step with her to give her some backup. It didn't look like Ruby needed it, though, but still, the white-haired girl wanted to make sure her girlfriend was safe.

After about ten to fifteen minutes, the battle was already over. With one last overhead swing of her scythe, the crimson-haired girl finished the last Beowolf off, driving the blade through its hunched body and slamming it into the ground. This action never would've attracted the attention of her teammates if it wasn't accompanied by a loud and hate-filled "DIE!!!"

Now all eyes were on their team leader who watched the corpse in front of her evaporating with a frightening satisfaction on her face. But as soon as the black mist was completely gone, her expression changed to a more normal one.

"Is everybody okay?", she asked and looked around for her team. Much to her relief, she found nobody injured.

"Shouldn't we be the ones asking you this?", Yang asked back while she walked over to her sister and Weiss, "You were the one who almost got mauled to death by a pack of Beowolves."

"I had everything under control.", Ruby reassured the blonde but Yang only raised an eyebrow at this, "Okay, maaaybe I was in a bit of trouble back there. But that's what I have my awesome teammates for, right?" She pulled Weiss, who stood next to her, into a one-armed hug and gave her sister a shit-eating grin.

"Don't give me that look.", Yang said a tad bit annoyed, "You could've died. And while I know that's part of the job, this time it could've been avoided. In retrospect, your _I'm-going-alone-first_ plan was horrible."

"Yeah, Yang's right.", Weiss seconded and wriggled herself out of her girlfriend's embrace, then she was taken aback for a moment, "Hmm... that felt strange to say."

"Hey!", the blonde pouted and crossed her arms.

"I'm with them, too.", Blake tossed in the moment she appeared next to them, "Usually, you come up with something a lot better. This time, it almost seemed like you wanted them to attack you."

"Whaaat? Whatcha talkin' about?", Ruby asked in confusion, "If my sweetheart would've killed that first Alpha right away, everything would've been a piece of cake." She caressed her scythe tenderly while talking about it.

"Anyway, next time we have to fight a pack of Beowolves in a dense forest, please come up with a better plan.", Yang said and gave her sister a half-reproachful, half-pleading look, "You had me worried sick for a moment."

"Me too.", Weiss seconded once more and pulled the younger girl into a one-armed hug herself now, "Promise me you won't do something like that ever again, Rose Petal." She then tried to give Ruby puppy-dog eyes like the crimsonette always did and, to everyone's surprise, she wasn't half bad doing so.

"If I wouldn't know better I'd say it looks like you two are fighting over Ruby's attention.", Blake said with a teasing grin.

"Shut up!", both Yang and Weiss exclaimed. The former was looking angry while the latter started to blush a bit.

Ruby, however, just giggled at their actions. Of course, she loved her sister and her girlfriend (and Blake, too) equally... even though it was a different kind of love in Weiss' case.

* * *

After they had told the mayor of the town that the mission had been a success, the four girls made their way back to Beacon. A truck was already waiting for them to take them to Vale. The ride was held mostly in silence, even though Yang made a few conversation attempts and awful jokes from time to time. Soon, team RWBY arrived at the kingdom's capital. However, since the driver was pretty busy (at least he said so), he just got them to the city border and left again.

"This guy could've just dropped us off at the airship docks. It's not that much of a detour.", Weiss complained, "Do you have any idea how exhausting it is to walk through a forest in wedges?" Of course, the heiress still didn't want to wear any other kind of footwear – the ones she wore now fit her style perfectly. Also, she didn't appear as short as she actually was that way.

"I totally agree with you.", Blake said and let out a yawn, "I'm not in the mood for walking through the entire city as well. Finding that pack was a lot of work and the fight was pretty intense, even though it wasn't that long."

"Kind of strange how adrenaline works, huh?", Yang tossed in, "Back at the forest I was, like, super hyper and eager for some more fighting but now all I want to do is take a shower and laze around for the rest of the day."

"By the way, dibs on the first one once we're back.", the heiress suddenly said, "You always need forever and if we are unlucky there's no hot water left afterwards."

"Weiss has a point. Dibs on the second.", Blake quickly added with a smug grin.

"Hey! No fair!", the blonde pouted while Weiss simply laughed at her, "You can't call dibs until you see the dorm!"

The three girls were so absorbed in their conversation that they didn't notice that Ruby suddenly slowed down and finally stopped walking completely. The crimsonette's mind, however, started wandering. It recalled their mission and the fight against the Beowolves. It wasn't like it had been too dangerous for the four to handle but it still had been a serious battle.

Nevertheless, Ruby had felt kind of different on this mission than on other, comparable tasks the team had attended so far in the past. She hadn't been tense or nervous, nor she had felt the need for excessive caution. The only feeling Ruby could recall was pure and intense excitement. And this excitement caused her not to be as worn out and tired as her teammates. Quite the contrary: She was wide awake and bursting with energy.

'Why should the fighting end right now?', she asked herself, 'There are, for sure, some Grimm waiting for me in, dunno... the Emerald Forest maybe... Why should I go back to the dorm and let the daily routine dull my mood when I, back there... felt more alive than ever...'

The attention of the rest of team RWBY was suddenly called by the clattering of mechanical parts. When they turned around, they saw Ruby standing in the middle of the street, gazing into space, Crescent Rose unfurled and held ready to strike at an unknown enemy. Yang and Blake raised an eyebrow, unsure what to think about this strange behavior of their leader, but didn't know what to say.

Weiss, however, asked carefully: "Is everything alright, Ruby?" When she got no response, she added, although quiet enough for nobody else to hear: "Are you okay, Rose Petal?"

After hearing her girlfriend's voice (and especially her pet name), Ruby snapped out of her trance. She then realized that she was standing in her battle stance, ready to slaughter whatsoever, on an ordinary street in Vale's commercial district.

"Umm... sorry... I was daydreaming... I think...", she stammered, "A lot on my mind after the mission, I guess... yeah, that must be it."

She tried to trace back her trains of thought, only to come to the conclusion that she had no idea why she did exactly what she had done. She shook off the thoughts about what had happened just now, folded up Crescent Rose and put it back into the harness on her back. Then she closed up to her teammates and the four girls continued walking.

However, Weiss still couldn't escape the feeling that something was wrong with Ruby. The crimson-haired girl was acting weird lately. First snapping at Yang, now this... Maybe she really just had a lot on her mind lately. Or maybe her hormones were running wild at the moment because of some late puberty stuff. Maybe it was _that_ time of the month for Ruby. Or was it because they were having more sex lately? Was it Weiss' fault? The heiress knew she better should keep an eye on her girlfriend. Hopefully, everything would return to normal within the next week or so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, apparently the heat of a fight isn't doing Ruby any good. Let's just hope her condition won't get worse until someone had found a cure for this weird illness she has. Fortunately, Weiss is still there to keep her sane and stop her from doing something stupid.
> 
> Please leave a comment and let me know what you think of the chapter. Writing the next won't take as long as this one since I'm not on vacation anymore. I'll see you around.


	28. Huntress or Predator

_A battlefield. Heavy rain. Biting wind. Thick night, only illuminated by occasional lightning. Corpses scattered all around, friends and foes alike. No survivors... except two people that stood in the middle of the shambles:_

_The first one was a young woman with long, snow-white hair, wearing a formerly pristine white dress. Now it was tattered and torn, missing a sleeve, and stained with blood and dirt. The usually silky strands were a mess as well, matted, grimy and disheveled by the ruthless wind. She held onto the second person with a weird, somewhat panicked expression on her face._

_The other figure wasn't that easy to describe. They seemed to be even darker than the rest of the scene – and not just because they wore a pitch-black armor with occasional white, bone-like plates covering and spikes protruding from it. This person somehow had a much darker Aura surrounding them... or no Aura at all. A white mask was covering the upper half of their face, the lower half was bare and showed a diabolic grin, teeth, no, fangs shimmering even in the darkness._

_While the white-haired woman held onto the figure's right arm and hand, their left one held a scythe, the blade encrusted with blood thick enough that not even the rain could wash it away. The person's iron grip on this weapon almost implied that they weren't done killing yet._

_Suddenly, lightning struck mere feet away from the odd couple, illuminating the mask of this weird, dark warrior for a split-second..._

_They had silver eyes..._

* * *

"Hey, Rose Petal.", a soft voice whispered, barely audible, "Rise and shine..."

This and a soft squeeze on her thigh caused Ruby to open her eyes slightly. Something cold and hard (and, for some reason, wet) was pressed to the right side of her face. It took the younger girl a moment to realize that she was lying on a desk in a lecture hall, in her own drool, on top of that. She let out an annoyed groan, lifted her head up and wiped her cheek clean.

"You can't just fall asleep in the middle of the class.", the voice, now recognized as Weiss, quietly said, "And I won't tolerate this just because we're a couple."

"But herbalism stuff is sooo boring.", Ruby sighed in feigned agony, "As much as I like Professor Peach, roots and vines suck."

"This _stuff_ can save your life out in the field.", the heiress scolded, "How would you treat your wounds when you're out of healing Dust and your Aura is depleted, huh? _I_ know."

"Okay, okay. I pay attention. I'm just tired.", the crimsonette explained wearily.

She wasn't lying, though. The last days, Ruby had some trouble falling asleep – and not just because she and her girlfriend were staying up longer than usual now that they lived alone. No, these... _activities_... weren't the reason for her lack of sleep. The younger girl didn't know why but she felt kind of restless lately. And when she finally fell asleep, she always had pretty weird dreams like the one just now.

"Well, if you're getting so little sleep that you doze off in class, maybe we should cut down on our... adult naptime.", Weiss suggested with a sly grin (and a faint blush, nonetheless).

However, the heiress was just bluffing and hoped Ruby wouldn't notice. Waking up to the sight of her girlfriend suckling on her member lovingly while looking at her with these cartoonishly large, affectionate silver eyes wasn't exactly something she wanted to give up – as well as enjoying the sweet taste of Ruby's flower, or making out with her while embedded so deep inside the aforementioned part of her body that she could feel... whoa, it was probably better to stop thinking about all of this or something would bang against the table from below.

Luckily for the heiress, the crimsonette immediately took her bait.

"Oh! Suddenly I'm wide awake again.", Ruby whispered and started to copy the notes from the blackboard furiously.

"I thought so.", Weiss responded smiling, satisfied with her work. However, by solving this problem her lewd mind had created another one. But maybe she could ignore the now very prominent twitching in her panties if she continued following the lesson about the healing powers of marigold leaves. With this in mind, the white-haired girl returned her attention to the blackboard as well while crossing her legs... just to be on the safe side.

* * *

Even though Ruby had been lying about being wide awake again in Professor Peach's class, she was for real after it had ended. That was for two reasons: First, it was lunch break now and the cafeteria served cookies for dessert today, and second, they had sparring class afterwards. The pleasant anticipation of fighting against someone or something was so utterly refreshing for some reason. The crimsonette made sure not to overeat – which was a herculean task in her opinion because, well, cookies...

After lunch, all second-year students left the cafeteria to attend sparring class. Team RWBY, headed by their fearless leader, was practically dragged to the gym by the crimson-haired girl. Fortunately for the three girls, Ruby didn't use her Semblance to do so, otherwise there probably would've been casualties even before the class had started.

Professor Goodwitch was nowhere to be seen when they finally arrived at the gym, so the young Huntresses-in-training sat down on the stands. They spent their time with trivial chatter just like everybody else around them. Soon, the bell rang but the blonde teacher still hadn't arrived.

"Huh, weird.", Weiss said, "It's really unlike Professor Goodwitch to be late."

"She is probably just held up by something.", Blake guessed.

"Traffic jam in the corridors.", Yang jested and, as usual, laughed the loudest at her lame joke.

"Highly unlikely.", the heiress sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Or she had corn schnapps instead of corn flakes for breakfast.", the blonde continued, "If I were my own student I'd probably have done this after two weeks."

"Don't be ridiculous.", now it was Blake's turn to sigh, "I'm pretty sure the instructors at Beacon aren't as irresponsible as the ones in all of these trashy movies you watch."

"Yeah.", Weiss seconded, "Name one _real_ teacher that actually drinks during work hours."

"Uncle Qrow.", Yang and Ruby replied in unison, a deadpan expression on their faces.

"Urgh... why does everyone in your family have to be such a weirdo?", the heiress asked and pinched the bridge of her nose, ignoring an annoyed "Hey!" from the blonde in the process.

"Better get used to it.", Ruby recommended with a teasing smile, "They will also be your family one day, Snowflake."

"Yeah, _sis_.", Yang said to Weiss, grinning mischievously now, "Better get used to us."

"All the sacrifices I have to make for this relationship...", the white-haired girl sighed overly dramatic in an attempt to tease back – and it worked great. Fortunately for her, before a once again annoyed Yang could respond anything, the door suddenly swung open.

"Alright, class! Calm down!", the voice of Professor Goodwitch echoed through the hall, silencing the chatting students immediately, "I apologize for the delay. There had been an important conference that required my attendance."

"Uncle Qrow says he has a lot of _conferences_ , too.", Yang whispered, giggling along with her sister.

"Stop being silly, Yang.", Weiss hissed... unfortunately, a tad bit too loud.

"Did I stutter, Ms. Schnee?", Glynda asked sarcastically and gave the white-haired girl a stern look.

"No, Professor. Sorry, Professor.", the heiress immediately answered and deflated in her chair.

"As I thought.", the blonde teacher continued, "Back to business. Today's sparring partners will be assigned randomly. No volunteers, no agreements. You'll have to fight whomever the computer picks for you."

"Wow, she's pretty lazy today.", Yang whispered, "Are you really sure she didn't..."

"Shhh!", Blake silenced her.

"Let's not waste any more time than we already have.", Professor Goodwitch said, "The first match today will take place between..."

Two frames with a question mark inside of them appeared on the large screen behind her. Mere seconds later, they started to spin like a slot machine. All of the students' eyes were set on the frames now – some people even started to crack their necks and stretch their arms, anticipating to be chosen. Then, the program picked the first contestant.

"Pyrrha Nikos from team JNPR...", the blonde Professor announced, "And..."

The atmosphere in the hall immediately changed. As much as most students loved sparring and considered it their favorite class, fighting against the red-haired girl was something they usually wanted to avoid. There were only a handful of people that somewhat stood a chance against her in a match one-on-one – and even they lost at least four times out of five.

Then, the simulated reel came to a halt.

* * *

"Ruby Rose from team RWBY.", Professor Goodwitch announced as neutral as she could. However, internally she sighed: 'You gotta be fucking kidding me.'

The whole point in this random selection thing had been trying to avoid that Ruby would be called up without seeming suspicious. The blonde teacher hadn't let the crimsonette fight the last two classes, after all. Of course, Glynda had intended to keep it that way until Ozpin got word from the Atlas specialists but she didn't remove Ruby from the algorithm's pool of possible combatants. She regretted not doing so now. Why the hell had the damn machine picked her, out of all the other students – for the first match, on top of that?!

"Miss Nikos, Miss Rose? Please gather in the arena.", Professor Goodwitch said, trying to keep her stern expression. There was no use crying over spilled milk.

Ruby and Pyrrha complied with their teacher's request and came down from the stands. They shared a look while doing so but this time Pyrrha noticed something different in the younger girl's eyes. There was no nervousness or anxiety in them, only excitement along with... something else she couldn't quite place.

Soon, they were facing each other in the arena and drew their weapons. However, Professor Goodwitch's "Begin!" followed no reaction at all. Both girls just stood there in their combat stances, calm and collected, their respiration even, and showed no sign of a sparring match going on at the moment. After a few seconds, Ruby even closed her eyes and took a deep breath, relaxing even more.

Suddenly, Pyrrha made a move. While changing Miló into its xiphos form, she rushed forward, trying to hit Ruby when she wasn't expecting it. It might be a bit mean to attack an opponent who wasn't paying attention at the moment but that was the younger girl's own fault, after all. But then, just before she was about to hit Ruby, the crimsonette avoided her opponent's strike by simply taking a small step sidewards. The following kick threw Pyrrha off balance and sent her flying across the arena. Yet, the redhead regained her composure immediately, rolling off and repositioning herself in a perfect combat stance.

Ruby just turned around to face her opponent again, still standing completely relaxed, almost leaning on the grip of her weapon and giving her red-haired friend a challenging smirk. She then cracked her neck, first one way, then the other, an ugly sound to everyone outside of the arena.

Pyrrha closed up to the younger girl a bit more careful this time. It might sound stupid as she thought about it but this wasn't the usual Ruby. That was another Ruby, a Ruby no one else, even she hasn't faced yet. A Ruby completely different from her usual sparring form, a Ruby somewhat different... and dangerous!

As if to prove her thoughts right, said Ruby suddenly dashed out and started an attack herself. And while Pyrrha knew that her opponent's Semblance was speed, this time it seemed more like teleportation. The redhead was barely able to bring her shield between herself and the approaching scythe blade before it almost skewered her, causing the sound of metal clashing against metal echo through the arena. Pyrrha's vision was a little obscured by rose petals but she managed to fend off the strike and swung her own weapon at Ruby in an attempt for a counter. However, she only hit a mass of the aforementioned petals.

A moment later, she felt a stinging pain in her back as something blunt hit her from behind. The redhead went with the impact and performed another dive roll to regain her balance as well as to put some distance between herself and the crimson-haired girl. When Pyrrha turned around and retook her combat stance, she saw Ruby standing there like a batter, having used the back of her blade to hit her. The annoying smirk was still present on the crimsonette's face as she slowly retook her combat stance as well. Was this little girl... mocking her?

Pyrrha felt a little bit of anger well up inside of her but she knew she had to keep her cool. Whoever lost their temper first would be at a disadvantage and since she knew Ruby pretty well, she was certain that the younger girl would give in first. The scythe-wielder might've become a better fighter since last time but she was still quite hasty... and easily tempted to make a mistake. Therefore, Pyrrha approached the crimsonette again and feinted a stab to her left.

Just as planned, Ruby took the bait immediately, made a step to the side and swung her scythe at her opponent. Of course, Pyrrha had been expecting this, quickly dodged the counter and attacked with a couple of strikes herself, not really powerful yet pretty quick ones. Admittedly, the crimsonette was able to parry all of them but she had a hard time doing so due to her heavy weapon and was forced into a defensive position. Pyrrha noticed with malicious glee that Ruby's arrogant grin was gone.

They exchanged a couple more strikes as the battle was gaining speed. It was pretty balanced, though. Pyrrha fiercely held her ground while Ruby occasionally used her Semblance to dash around her opponent in order to get the upper hand again. Therefore, the red-haired girl had to take a few light hits from time to time but her Aura absorbed them easily, barely dropping below eighty percent.

Pyrrha knew she couldn't keep it up forever, though, but it was a necessary sacrifice. While it looked like she was getting beat up, the red-haired girl was studying her opponent's movement patterns, searching for a weak spot – and soon she found one!

As Ruby appeared behind her again after using her Semblance, she was caught completely by surprise as her scythe was suddenly pushed down by Akoúo̱. The crimsonette managed to dodge the following slash of Miló but the kick afterwards hit her hard in the face. Pyrrha used the time the younger girl was disorientated to slam her shield into her with all her might which sent Ruby flying and crashing into the nearest arena wall.

The attack itself wasn't that strong, though. Therefore, everyone was astonished that it still depleted half of Ruby's Aura! How was that possible?

"Are you okay, sis?!", Yang yelled to drown out the other voices that had arisen in the crowd. Weiss, who sat next to her, stood up on impulse, even though she knew that she wasn't allowed to help her girlfriend. However, the crimsonette's answer sent a shiver down their spines.

"No.", Ruby said calmly but still loud enough to be clearly audible, "I'm angry."

She had barely finished this sentence when she suddenly exploded into a flurry of rose petals. Pyrrha had little to no time to follow the track as Ruby appeared behind her and swung her scythe at her. The red-haired girl took a heavy hit but managed to stay on her feet and turn around to parry the next swing, yet it was almost strong enough to knock her weapon out of her hand. A quick glance into her opponent's silver eyes left no doubt about the fact that the younger girl was indeed beyond pissed off.

Pyrrha had no idea where this sudden increase in strength and speed came from but she had a hard time to defend herself. In addition, attacking the crimsonette herself seemed impossible by now. Ruby spun her humongous scythe around as if it was weightless, not even bothering with accelerating her swings with occasional shots like she normally did. Pyrrha knew that she would lose at this rate. She needed to find another weak spot to stop the crimsonette's onslaught.

It probably wouldn't be that hard to find one, though. Ruby was concentrated mostly on her offense now and neglected her defense almost completely. Admittedly, the younger girl was fast but if Pyrrha used her Semblance just right to throw her opponent off balance, she might be able to get the upper hand again.

The next time Ruby changed the direction of her spins, Pyrrha put her plan into action. It wasn't as easy as she had thought since the crimson-haired girl had an iron grip on her weapon but she managed to push the scythe a little to the side so that the next swing missed her. The redhead knew she wouldn't have much time to perform her counter-attack but was certain it would be enough.

At the exact moment the curved blade rushed past her, Pyrrha lunged out to deliver a heavy thrust with her javelin to Ruby's unguarded chest. Everything seemed to go according to plan. This attack would most certainly be the match-winning one. But then...

Just before Miló hit Ruby, the younger girl let go of her scythe completely as if she had expected this strike. She took another step to the side and grabbed the javelin, then she used it to pull Pyrrha closer to her only to hit her in the face with a headbutt. The sound on the impact gave everybody on the stands and even Professor Goodwitch the creeps.

However, Ruby was far from finished. A kick to Pyrrha's chest knocked her off her feet and made her drop her javelin in the process. Then, the crimsonette caught her scythe that was still rotating in the air above their heads and used it to slam her opponent into the ground. Pyrrha bounced off and hung helplessly in the air as Ruby pinwheeled to prepare her final strike.

The loud report of a sniper round was the last thing the red-haired girl could hear before Crescent Rose crashed into her. Pyrrha flew halfway through the arena before she hit the ground again, losing her shield in the process and bouncing off the floor a few times before she came to a halt. Her Aura immediately dropped into the red and the arena's buzzer announced that the battle was over.

* * *

However, Ruby spun her scythe around and dashed forward again, a shot backwards accelerating her even more. A surprised murmur went through the crowd as they saw the younger girl rapidly approaching Pyrrha who still struggled to pull herself back to her feet. Crescent Rose's curved blade glistened menacingly in the arena's spotlights and if anyone could see the determination in the crimsonette's eyes at the moment instead of just a flurry of rose petals, they would've been scared stiff.

"That's enough!", Professor Goodwitch shouted and readied her riding crop.

Suddenly, Ruby brought her feet to the ground again a few yards before she would've reached her prostrated opponent and braked herself, folding up her deadly scythe in the process. She came to a halt a couple of feet in front of a surprised Pyrrha who had just used her Semblance to summon her shield again. If the red-haired warrior had been frightened by her younger friend's actions, she hid it well.

"S-sorry...", Ruby stammered immediately, "I guess I, umm, got carried away a little. I didn't look at the Aura meters and kind of missed the buzzer, too. Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for worrying about me.", Pyrrha said calmly and slowly got up again with a little help from the crimson-haired girl, "And I know that one can get a bit agitated in the heat of the moment. We were fighting, after all. I've been there myself."

"Again, I really didn't mean to hurt you.", the crimsonette explained, still a bit startled by her actions, "Well, y'know, besides the normal hurting to win the match and stuff but I would never..."

"Don't sweat it, Ruby.", the older girl responded soothingly, "You're one of the nicest people I know. I know you didn't do it on purpose. But, whew, you've become an amazing fighter. I'm definitely going to feel that last swing in the morning."

"Thank you.", the younger girl said, blushing a bit at the praise from someone usually better than her.

Even though it had been pretty obvious that Pyrrha just tried to change the topic with that last remark, Ruby didn't seem to notice. The red-haired warrior was grateful for that, though. Ruby was a kindhearted person and didn't deserve to feel bad just because she had lost her cool in a situation anyone could have. With a last pat on the crimsonette's shoulder, Pyrrha left the arena to return to her team on the stands. Ruby followed suit so Professor Goodwitch could announce the next match.

The period went on as usual: Different sparring matches, cheering and booing from the students during them, Professor Goodwitch giving some advice afterwards and the like. However, Ruby wasn't paying that much attention. Of course, she tried not to show her distraction to her team to avoid any weird questions. One thing was still bothering her. She had been aware of Pyrrha's condition and she most certainly heard the buzzer. She knew her friend's Aura had been depleted. If she took all of that into account, then...

Why hadn't she stopped?

* * *

In the evening, team RWBY and team JNPR sat together at their regular table, having dinner and chatting like always. Today's main topic was, of course, the sparring match between Ruby and Pyrrha. Nora retold it for the third time now, gushing over every detail and adding her own ones to the original story, like she already had the first and second time.

"And then, fire Dust. BOOM!", the orange-haired girl exclaimed while making sweeping gestures.

"No one had used fire Dust in this match.", Ren sighed, even though he knew it was futile to try and talk some sense into his partner. As for everybody else, the story had happened the way Nora was telling it right now – arguing would just be a waste of time... and breathing air.

"And after that, while the flames devoured the entire arena, Ruby prepared her final strike aaand... BAM! She sent Pyrrha flying and crashing through the wall, and the whole stadium almost collapsed!", the orange-haired girl finished her tale, "That. Was. So. Awesome! Oh, no hard feelings, Pyrrha..." The addressed girl just gave her a smile and a nod.

"Yeah... besides the parts you came up with, it had been pretty _awesome_.", Weiss said and gave her girlfriend's hand an appreciative squeeze under the table, "It was kind of exciting to see my cute, badass Huntress in action."

Then she leaned over to Ruby's ear and added in a whisper: "...and arousing." It was mostly a joke, though, and the heiress only said it to tease the younger girl. But still, she would be lying to herself if she didn't acknowledge that seeing Ruby fighting had turned her on a little, for whatever reason.

However, her teasing attempt fell on deaf ears.

"Huh?", the crimson-haired girl wondered and turned her eyes away from her barely touched plate, an apparent look of confusion on her face.

"Something the matter, Ruby?", Blake asked, "You seem... distracted, to say at least."

"Oh, umm, no. I-I'm fine.", the younger girl responded, "Just... thinking about... stuff, I guess."

"Thinking about stuff while food is on the table?", Yang asked in feigned shock, "Could it be that we aren't related after all?"

"Maybe Weiss is rubbing off on her.", Pyrrha suggested with a smile.

At this comment, Yang bit her cheek to keep herself from making one of her jokes. The similarity between _rubbing off_ and _rub one out_ was almost too inviting but, unfortunately, there were people at the table that mustn't know about Weiss' secret.

"Probably.", she mumbled instead, then she turned back to Ruby, "But seriously, sis? What's up with you?"

"Nothing, really.", the crimsonette repeated herself, grabbed her fork and started to dig in to prove her friends that there was nothing to worry about, "Shee. I'ng eagin'. Gjusht had shomeshin ong ny ning, ish all."

"Don't talk with your mouth full.", Weiss said, a tad of reproach in her voice, "Otherwise you're making it kind of hard to find you adorable."

"Sorry, Snowflake.", Ruby apologized after she had swallowed her food, "But seriously, guys. I'm just thinking about the match. Always trying to improve, y'know." Fortunately, her friends seemed to believe her and that was that.

The younger girl hadn't exactly been lying when she had told them that she was thinking about the match, though. But she hadn't thought (or didn't think, to be more precise) about anything she could improve on her fighting style. She just thought about the end... about her last, unnecessary charge. Why had she done this?

She had been aware of the fact that the match had been over. Pyrrha's Aura had been in the red and the buzzer had sounded. Okay, maybe she had done it because she had been full of adrenaline at that moment which had clouded her judgment. Or maybe it was just an instinct thing as a Huntress to only stop when you were sure that your enemy was completely out.

'Yeah! That must be it.', Ruby thought relieved. She had only been behaving the way she had because it was all natural out in the unforgiving harshness of the field to guarantee one's safety. Now that was a satisfying explanation and her worries were blown away. Suddenly, the crimson-haired girl was sure that it just had to do something with her instincts kicking in. There was no way that she would harm a friend under normal circumstances.

She was a Huntress, after all... not a predator.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, either Ruby's instinct as a Huntress is developing pretty well or she just keeps getting weirder. First, the things that happened on the mission, now this... but Beacon's staff can't just prohibit her from taking part in school stuff. Let's just hope the Atlas specialists make haste to do whatever they are doing at the moment. Otherwise...
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you think about this chapter in the comments. I know things aren't that interesting at the moment but I want to capture Ruby's changes a little more. Don't worry, though, there are more drama and action (as well as other things) on the way. Stay tuned.


	29. Hide and Seek

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry for the long wait. I wanted to finish this chapter a lot sooner, but I got a wisdom tooth pulled earlier this week and felt more like suffering than writing. In addition, I originally planned to make this two chapters, but since we want to get somewhere with this arc I decided against it. Also, I spent some time proofreading the whole story, fixing some typos and changing some expressions, now that I'm slowly getting a better hang of English (I guess). Anyway, enough with the excuses. Enjoy the new chapter.

Weiss Schnee had always been an early riser, hardly ever sleeping in, unlike Yang or Ruby. It was a habit she had picked up at her time back in Atlas when her schedule had been a lot stricter. She didn't want to break that habit, though – she was used to it anyway. Additionally, getting up early had a lot of advantages: You could use the extra time to prepare for the day, calmly drink a coffee, check your homework again and have the first shower.

However, her latest reason to wake up early, one that had been added about one and a half months ago, was by far her favorite. Nothing of the above could compare to these beautiful five to ten (on some days even fifteen) minutes when she would just lie in her bed with Ruby sleep-cuddling her. This comforting warmth, this gorgeous smell of roses, the sound of these soft, cute snores the younger girl made while she unconsciously tried to wriggle even closer, even though there was no space left between them already... there was no single thing about Ruby in the morning not to fall in love with.

Okay, lately the crimson-haired girl awoke earlier than Weiss sometimes but the heiress wasn't bothered by this in the slightest. After all, it often led to other... _pleasant_ activities.

* * *

This Saturday morning was different, though.

When the white-haired girl woke up, there was no other body warmth, no smell of roses and no cute snoring sounds. No one was burying their head into her neck from behind nor was there a hand around her stomach. Weiss needed a moment to process the absence of all the things that had become so natural for her over the past few weeks before it clicked in her brain: She was alone.

The heiress groaned at the missing touch of her girlfriend. She turned around and scanned the room for her Rose Petal with still half-lidded eyes but found it empty. There were no noises coming from the bathroom, either, and the door was ajar. Maybe Ruby had gone to the dorm's shared kitchen to brew them some coffee – that had happened before, after all. Weiss tried not to read too much into it and went to the bathroom to get her morning routine done.

She spent some extra time in the shower this morning, paying special attention to her hair. There wasn't a lot of school stuff to do this weekend so maybe she and Ruby could go on a date in Vale – they hadn't done this in a while and the crimsonette would most certainly be thrilled of the idea, too. The thought of this put Weiss in a much better mood. She even started to happily hum a little tune (something she rarely did) and on a whim, used her girlfriend's childish strawberry shampoo instead of her own. Maybe it would make her even more appealing to the younger girl... not that this was necessary anyway.

The heiress knew that it wasn't usually her that suggested doing this couple stuff, mostly because she thought that she was bad at it. So when she did it for once, she wanted to make sure that everything was perfect, her looks included. Also, the white-haired girl told herself that she owed Ruby about a hundred amazing dates since their first one had been... disastrous, to say at least.

* * *

However, when Weiss finally left the bathroom after about twenty minutes, Ruby was still missing. Now that was odd. If she would've been making coffee, she should be back by now. Weiss let out a slightly annoyed huff. Why would Ruby leave her this early without saying a word? Her good mood faltered immediately. But just when she was about to put a scolding together in her mind, she spotted a note on their desk. The heiress grabbed the piece of paper and read her girlfriend's scrawly handwriting:

_Gone to get some training done. Didn't want to wake you up. ~~Btw, you look really cute in your sleep.~~ I'll be back around lunchtime... -ish... Love ya, Snowflake. - Your Rose Petal_

At the end of the note was a poorly drawn figure, apparently a chibi-styled Ruby, who was scratching the back of her head and sticking out her tongue. The little drawing, as well as the crossed out but still readable sentence, brought a small smile to Weiss' face. Nevertheless: The younger girl went to the training grounds this early? And planned to stay there for the entire forenoon on top of that?

'She could've at least asked me if I wanted to come with her, instead of just ditching me.', the white-haired girl thought a little downcast, 'It's not like I'm that much of a horrible person when somebody wakes me up... if they don't use a whistle to do so, that is...'

Maybe she should surprise Ruby by showing up with something for breakfast from the cafeteria. Then they could make plans for the rest of the weekend as well. Her girlfriend spent too much time at the gym lately anyway. And as much as Weiss liked the crimsonette's toned body and the fact that the girl wanted to keep it that way, the heiress didn't want her to be totally ripped – she preferred a cute Ruby.

A look on her Scroll told Weiss that it was just half past seven, though, so the cafeteria wouldn't open for a while. But maybe there was still some fruit in the dorm's kitchen's fridge... and also some candy bars for her girlfriend to bribe her into ditching some of her training so they could go on a date. If the heiress had set her mind on something, she wanted to get it done, after all. Also, it would be a nice change of air for her as well as for Ruby. The crimsonette seemed to be a little... tense the last days.

* * *

There were indeed a few apples and bananas in the food sharing fridge at the dorm's kitchen area, as well as some of these disgusting chocolate-peanut-butter-caramel-strawberry-marshmallow-whatsoever bars that almost gave Weiss a cavity by just looking at the wrappers. But Ruby liked all of this sweet stuff so the heiress took them, too. She made a mental note to buy replacements later when she was in Vale again, then she went to the training grounds to make a surprise visit to her girlfriend.

When Weiss arrived at the gym, she found it completely void of any people. Well, it was to be expected that no one else was here since it was pretty early and a Saturday, on top of that. But there was no sign of Ruby, too. The heiress checked the training grounds outside, but still didn't find her girlfriend. Then she searched the locker rooms and the showers, only to ascertain that the crimsonette wasn't there as well. Now that was strange. Ruby had said that she wanted to get some training done... so why wasn't she here?

Weiss pulled out her Scroll and tried to call her. Maybe she got distracted by something on her way to the gym and was checking this out now. Ruby's childlike curiosity made almost everything possible, after all. However, when the heiress pushed the call button, her Scroll immediately told her that the person she had called was temporarily not available. Now that was even more strange.

It wasn't like the younger girl at all to disappear out of the blue and to turn her Scroll off as well, especially when she had said where she wanted to go. Weiss suddenly noticed that her girlfriend hadn't specifically mentioned that she was training at the gym, just that she wanted to train in general. Maybe she had found herself a sparring partner to do so somewhere else. That sounded reasonable.

With this in mind, the heiress called Yang. If her assumption was right, the blonde most certainly had been Ruby's first choice. It rung a few times, then the call was answered.

"Huh?", a sleepy groan came out of the speaker.

"Good morning, Yang.", Weiss responded politely.

"Who the f-word is this?", the sleepy and now pretty annoyed voice asked.

"It's Weiss.", the white-haired girl explained confused, "Have you ever heard of call ID?"

"And do you realize what time it is?", Yang gnarled back but it lacked her usual energy, "What do you want?"

"I'm sorry to have woken you up.", Weiss apologized, "Well, the thing is... okay, I guess my actual question is already answered but..."

"You have five seconds to explain yourself, Schnee, or I'll stuff you in your locker the next time I see you.", the blonde cut off her teammate's rambling. She reeeaaally wasn't a morning person.

"Do you have any idea where Ruby could be?", the heiress quickly said. Even though it was probably an empty threat since they were on good terms again, Weiss didn't want to push her luck.

"Uh, no?", Yang answered, now more confused than angry, "Is she missing?"

"Yes, she is.", Weiss explained, "She left me a note that she wanted to get some training done but she isn't at the gym or the training grounds. The locker room and the showers were empty as well and I can't reach her Scroll. I thought she might've gotten herself a sparring partner and had gone somewhere else."

"Well, she isn't with me or Blake right now.", the blonde responded, "Don't worry about her, though. She probably just got distracted by whatever and is at the library, or tuning her weapon, or putting fireworks in a blender or something equally stupid _for science_ , as she puts it. You know how she can get sometimes."

"Yeah, you're probably right.", the white-haired girl pondered, "It's just that she seems a bit... weird lately. I'm kinda worried that there could be something on her mind she doesn't tell us about. Y'know... pulling a Blake on us." At that comment, she heard Yang chuckle.

"Well, she _is_ behaving a little strange lately.", the blonde then admitted, " But I guess it's just a phase or something. Maybe the hormones... umm... you didn't knock her up, did you?"

"W-what?! NO!", Weiss shrieked and Yang could almost feel the heat of the heiress' blush through the phone, "S-she uses birth control pills a-and we don't do it that often..." A lie. "...a-and she isn't late or anything and..."

"Relax, Ice Queen. I only made a joke.", the brawler explained, "Take a chill pill, geez. I promise you that Ruby's fine. We should stop worrying about her that much and don't treat her like a child again. Or is there _anything important_ you need her for?"

Now it was Weiss that could almost see Yang's teasing grin and her wiggling eyebrows through the phone. But she didn't want to give the blonde the satisfaction of being turned into a stammering mess again by that comment. Instead, she just replied as neutral as possible: "Just so you know, I wanted to ask her out on a date this afternoon, trip to Vale, movie, fancy restaurant, y'know the drill. And get your mind out of the gutter. This is _your_ sister we're talking about, after all."

"Hey, if I'm okay with you banging my sister, you have to bear with my teasing. You owe me that much.", the blonde replied nonchalantly, then she added with a chuckle, "Your reactions are pure gold, after all."

"You're terrible.", Weiss sighed.

"Anyway, don't worry about Ruby that much. She's a big girl. I'm sure she'll turn up again in a few hours.", Yang finished with a yawn, "I'll see you at the cafeteria around ten or so. And you better not wake me up again today." With this, and without waiting for a response, the blonde ended the call.

'How rude.', the heiress huffed inwardly, 'But I guess she's right. It doesn't even make sense to get all worked up just because Ruby wants some time for herself. Now that I think about it: it's pretty unlike me caring about such little things and being this attached to a person.'

However, as she thought about how much she had changed over the past few weeks as well as about the girl responsible for this, Weiss couldn't help but smile a little.

'I guess I like it, though.'

* * *

For the rest of the morning, the heiress tried not to think about her girlfriend's whereabouts anymore. It still felt a little weird to her to take advise from Yang, though, but when the blonde was right, she was right – even Weiss had to admit that much. There was no point in worrying about Ruby just because she went somewhere on her own. The crimsonette had proven on more than one occasion that she could take care of herself and it wasn't like she would do something completely stupid on a whim, even though she was acting a little odd lately.

Therefore, the white-haired girl did her best to busy herself but that wasn't exactly that easy. There wasn't much to do for the upcoming classes after all and, unlike Ruby, Weiss didn't have a lot of movies or any games on her Scroll. Again, the heiress started to wonder when she had become so dependent on people. Not that this was entirely a bad thing, though. Weiss liked her new self (most of the time), as well as all the good things that came with it... like sharing her bed with a cute girl that somehow always smelled of roses.

Again, Ruby had invaded her thoughts. With a sigh, the white-haired girl closed the book she had been trying to read for the last few minutes. She had to admit it: she needed somebody to keep her company. She had been less alone (and less lonely) since she had arrived at Beacon and hardly ever since she and Ruby had gotten together and she didn't want to fall back into old, tristful patterns. Maybe she would find one of her other friends to spend some time with if she took a walk over the campus. Also, there was still a chance of running into Ruby, too.

Since everything was probably better than sitting around in this room while being bored out of her brains, Weiss grabbed her Scroll and left the dorms.

* * *

Even though she didn't have a real destination, Weiss' feet somehow carried her to the library on their own. Admittedly, it was a well-known walk to them: the heiress usually used her Saturday mornings to get some studying done. But today there wasn't anything left to do and she didn't feel like doing preliminary studies for the week after next or the like. Since Weiss was pretty sure that the library would be empty at this time, too, she decided to go back to the courtyard. But when she turned around...

"Hey there, Weiss.", Blake greeted her with a friendly, yet a little sleepy smile.

"Oh. Hey, Blake.", the heiress responded politely, "How come you're up this early on a Saturday?"

"I overheard your conversation with Yang.", the Faunus explained, "Yang doesn't exactly talk quietly on the phone."

"Oh... I'm sorry I've woken you up, too.", Weiss apologized, "Well, not exactly _I_ but, y'know. So... are you trying to get some reading done or do you have any assignments left?"

"Just trying to kill some time by doing my homework. It is pretty much impossible to go back to sleep when it's already about eight and someone a few feet above your head is sawing logs.", Blake said and added with a chuckle, "I think they made the walls of the dorm rooms sound-proof because of people like Yang. Otherwise, she would keep the entire floor awake."

"Yeah, been there myself as you may remember.", the white-haired girl responded, "Anyway, do you need any help with the stuff you came here for? I have already finished next week's homework."

"Her girlfriend is away for just a few hours now but the formerly ice-cold heiress is already in dire need of human warmth from other people to compensate the yearning of her heart.", the Faunus mused with a grin and, of course, the white-haired girl's expression told her that her guess was right on the money, "Are you going _that_ soft, Weiss? I remember you a little differently."

"Shut up, you.", the heiress frowned and looked away, still not fond of being teased about her change of character, "Do you want any help or not? My time is precious."

"Alright, I'll do you a favor and pretend that you're doing me one.", Blake answered as her grin grew wider, then she continued with feigned helplessness, "I would really appreciate if you could aid me in my studies. I am certain I will fail without your guidance."

"I guess it can't be helped then.", Weiss said matter-of-factly, playing along, and made her way to one of the bookshelves, but then she turned around and added, "And... thank you."

"Don't mention it.", the Faunus responded with a friendly smile, "Being independent is all well and good but there's nothing wrong with preferring to be among your friends and loved ones as much as possible."

"I know...", the heiress sighed, "It's just that I probably still think it's kind of a... weakness to be _that_ attached to someone. I mean, Ruby's gone for a few hours and I'm all..." Suddenly, Blake took a step towards her and put a hand on her shoulder soothingly.

"That may sound like it's out of a bad romance movie now but I think that love is one of the greatest strengths there is.", the raven-haired girl explained, "It's all the negative emotions like hate, sadness, and fear that make us weak and exposed to the creatures of Grimm. You should cherish that you feel that strongly towards Ruby. There's nothing wrong with that."

"Wow... you're right, I guess.", Weiss said and a small smile appeared on her face as well, "Thank you, again. For being there for me."

"Anytime.", the Faunus reassured, "What are friends for, right?"

"Anyway, let's get down to business.", the white-haired girl suddenly changed the topic, "We still have work to do. And since you are in such a _desperate need_ of my help, I suggest you do exactly as I say to get this done the right way." With these words, she made her way through the library.

"As you wish, Miss Schnee.", Blake said with a chuckle, then she followed her teammate.

* * *

Team Checkmate worked on Blake's homework for a while but finished it pretty soon. They continued to chat about this, that and the other in the still empty library, avoiding unpleasant themes, of course. Time flew by and at about half past nine the two friends decided they could use a good breakfast. The cafeteria had to be open by now, so they gathered their belongings and left.

When Weiss and Blake arrived at the lunchroom, they were surprised to find Yang sitting at their regular table as well as the members of team JNPR. The blonde had an untouched bowl of cereal on her tray, accompanied by two mugs of coffee. Apparently, being woken up that early on a Saturday while she had intended to sleep in took a toll on her and she needed an extra dose of caffeine to become her energetic self again. Yang was an all-or-nothing type of person for that matter.

Weiss immediately felt a little bad for being the one to blame for her teammate's condition and also didn't look forward to the blonde's payback prank she anticipated to happen eventually. Yet, she went with Blake to join Yang and her other friends after she had gotten her breakfast. Also, there was still no Ruby in sight and this started to worry her again.

"Hey, guys.", the heiress and the Faunus greeted the group when they arrived and Weiss added apologetically, "Sorry about the call earlier, Yang. I hope you understand that I was just worried about your sister." Hopefully, that would be enough to pour oil into troubled waters.

"Don't sweat it.", the blonde responded casually, "It's proof that you care about her a whole lot and that'll do me fine."

"Something the matter with Ruby?", Jaune suddenly asked the two new arrivals.

"Weissicle just woke up alone today.", Yang explained while sipping her coffee, "Ruby told her that she wanted to train but wasn't at the gym, so she got a little worked up, is all."

"But now that you mention Ruby...", Nora suddenly tossed in, "It _is_ kind of unlike her to miss out on a meal. Especially on the weekends."

"Nah. If she sets her mind on something she can work through two days without eating or even sleeping.", Yang objected, "You should've seen her when she started building her weapon at Signal. Dad practically had to drag her out of the workshop."

"But isn't it weird that she said she would be training but then she doesn't go to the gym?", Weiss asked.

"Maybe she went to Vale to get some weapon parts.", Blake suggested.

"This early in the morning? I highly doubt that.", the heiress said and took a bite from her toast, "Her favorite store doesn't open until ten on Saturdays anyway. Besides, she told me she doesn't have the money for the, and I quote, "kick-ass awesome sauce stuff" at the moment. And as you may know, she is really picky about Crescent Rose's updates, so I don't think she made a compromise and brought something cheap for some half-assed tinkering."

"Then maybe she's working on a new weapon.", Jaune proposed.

"No way.", Yang explained, "Even though my sister is a dork for weapons, she would never _cheat_ on her scythe. I'm not even completely sure that she loves Weiss more than it by now."

"Thank you for boosting my self-esteem.", the heiress remarked sarcastically, "But seriously, guys. Don't you think it's suspicious that Ruby's gone without a trace and even turned off her Scroll?"

"She probably just forgot to charge it for a while.", Ren tossed in, "Don't obsess about it."

"I think Ren is right.", Pyrrha seconded, "She most certainly didn't mean to let her Scroll die on her when she decided to go somewhere else than the gym. It's probably just a coincidence which became worse in your head after overthinking it so much."

"I know I shouldn't treat her like a child anymore, we all shouldn't. Ruby's a grown-up now.", the white-haired girl admitted, "It's just that she's acting a little weird lately and as her girlfriend, I'm kinda worried. She seems tense... and restless. And she doesn't make the... best decisions... for a while now."

"Huh, Weiss has a point there...", Yang pondered, recalling the mission and her sister's hasty and dangerous plan about a week ago, as well as the aftermath in Vale, "Apparently, she _is_ going through a weird phase at the moment. Maybe it's some puberty stuff. Or she is trying to impress her new girlfriend. Not that I think it's your fault, Weiss, it's just that Ruby can get pretty rash with her actions if she's like this... and stubborn."

"She said she wanted to get some training done, right?", Jaune suddenly asked, "Do you think she would go that far to go into the Emerald Forest by herself?"

"No, she wouldn't do...", the blonde began but cut herself off shortly after. She shared a look with Weiss, a hint of worry on her face. The heiress' expression wasn't any better.

"Do you really think she would do something that stupid?", Nora wondered after seeing her friends' concerned faces, "I mean, I know I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer but even I wouldn't go into a forest full of deadly Grimm by myself."

"Well, her _training methods_ had become a little... experimental recently.", Blake explained, also remembering the mission of last week.

"Damn it, now I'm worried, too.", Yang sighed, "I should've taken you more seriously earlier, Weiss."

"What's done is done.", the heiress said matter-of-factly, "Also, we don't know for sure if Ruby went to the Emerald Forest. But I would suggest that we at least go looking for her."

"There are cameras all over the forest.", Ren mentioned, "Maybe we should ask somebody of the staff about it. If Ruby really went there they might've caught her on tape."

"The cameras aren't active apart from the initiation day.", Blake explained, "Otherwise they could be easily spotted and destroyed by some curious Grimm."

"Exactly.", Weiss seconded, then she turned to team JNPR, "If we want to find Ruby or make sure she isn't there, we have to go ourselves. You guys wanna help us?"

"O-of course.", Jaune said immediately and earned a nod from the rest of his team, "If Ruby's really gone on her own, then she can get herself in trouble. Also, we can get this search done faster if there's more of us. I hope she isn't there at all, though."

"Thank you.", Weiss responded with a polite bow of her head, "And even though I hope she didn't do something that stupid as well, if we find her there I'll make sure she won't do something like that ever again."

"Then that's settled.", Yang said conclusively and downed her first coffee in one go, "Gather your stuff and we meet at the cliffs at ten sharp." She got another nod from everybody at the table in return, then the group disbanded.

'I swear to every higher power there may be...', Weiss thought half-worried and half-angry now, 'If I find your sorry ass in this forest... no, the next time I see you, even if it's back at Beacon... I'll make you _sooo_ regret today, Ruby!'

* * *

The group of seven met again by the cliffside precisely at ten o'clock. Everybody had gotten their weapons and made sure that their Scrolls were charged and they weren't low on ammunition. Weiss had taken the role as an interim leader since Ruby was missing at the moment. It had been her that had noticed something might be wrong with the crimsonette, after all.

"Alright. I think the details of this mission are clear.", the white-haired girl explained professionally, "We'll search the forest in pairs of two for Ruby, so we can cover a large part of it in a short time. Always have your Scroll ready if there is any news about her whereabouts or if you get into trouble. Be careful and make sure you stay close to your partner in case of an ambush."

"Your plan doesn't work out, Princess.", Yang said deadpan, "Maybe you've unlearned to count but we're _seven_ people. My math skills may not be the best but seven isn't divisible by two."

"That's why I'm going alone.", the heiress simply stated.

"You can't be serious.", Jaune intervened, "The whole point of this is that we're worried about someone who could be alone in the forest and now you want to go on your own as well?"

"It's different in my case.", Weiss explained, "You guys know that I'm here, after all. If I get into trouble I can simply contact you with my Scroll and pinpoint my location with a rocket flare." She patted the rapier on her left side before she continued: "Also, it's easiest for me to escape an attack because I have my glyphs. We're not planning to fight any Grimm as long as we can avoid it. We're here to look for Ruby. And if there are four teams we get this done faster."

"But how can we be sure if she's really here or not? This forest is huge.", Nora wanted to know, "Even with four teams searching the whole thing will take hours or even days."

"I don't think that Ruby went very far into the forest if her intention was just some training.", Weiss responded, "Also, her weapon is pretty loud and the report of her rifle is clearly recognizable. So _if_ she's here I think we'll notice pretty soon."

"You're probably right about that.", the orange-haired girl agreed.

"Any further questions?", the heiress asked everybody around. Her friends shook their heads, determination apparent in their eyes. If Ruby was really somewhere in this forest, they would find her.

"Alright.", Weiss said conclusively, "Then let's not waste any more time. Stay vigilant and good luck."

With this, she started her descent down the cliffs. The rest of the group followed suit, already splitting up on their way. They hoped that they wouldn't find Ruby here, though, but if they were to... hopefully, the younger girl was still in one piece.

* * *

Even though it was hard to see through the treetops, the position of the sun told Weiss that she was heading south, not circling Beacon Academy but receding from it. She didn't know if that would be the direction Ruby would've headed for if she were to train here. But one thing the heiress knew for sure: The further she was away from the academy the more dangerous the forest became. Maybe she should've chosen another direction since she had decided to look for her girlfriend all by herself.

There was no use regretting her choices now – she had a job to do. Additionally, she was a competent fighter and even _if_ she was met with a situation she couldn't handle herself, she could just cheese it or call for help. But if she was careful enough, it wouldn't come to this. Driven by the urge to find a clue about Ruby's whereabouts, the heiress made her way through the Emerald Forest.

After about fifteen or twenty minutes of marching (luckily without encountering any Grimm), Weiss was getting tired of it. What if Ruby really wasn't here? What if they would simply see each other in their dorm room when Weiss came back? What if it was just a coincidence that her Scroll had died while she went somewhere else and Weiss just had missed her by a few minutes? Had the heiress just jumped to stupid conclusions about her girlfriend? Was she too overprotective?

But what if Ruby had really gone to the forest by herself and Weiss just didn't hear any gunfire or other fighting noises because the younger girl had been...

The fear the heiress had tried to suppress the last few hours because it seemed ridiculous hit her again with full force. She unconsciously quickened her pace until she almost ran. If something bad had happened to her precious Rose Petal she couldn't bear with it. But just before her feelings could get the better of her, she heard something.

A sharp boom echoed through the forest, distant but still recognizable. It obviously wasn't the deep and hollow bang of Yang's shotgun gauntlets or the flat crack of Pyrrha's rifle. Also, it was just a single report and far too prominent to be caused by Blake's or Ren's pistols. And Nora's grenade launcher made a completely different sound. No, Weiss only knew one weapon that was capable of making such a noise.

Locating it was easy for the heiress since it sounded again a few seconds later. As fast as her legs could carry her, Weiss approached the noise she just had heard and was still hearing from time to time. Her knowledge about weapons wasn't the best but she knew it had to be Crescent Rose's shots. Soon, the white-haired girl reached a large clearing. But she wasn't prepared for what she saw next.

* * *

The place was crawling with Beowolves, Weiss even spotted two Alphas. The creatures were in a commotion over something so they didn't notice her – they were too busy charging into the center of the clearing. Then, the heiress spotted the cause of the Grimm's agitation: A little girl with a red hood wielding a giant scythe.

For some reason, Weiss was frozen in place as she followed the spectacle that unfolded before her eyes. Any Beowolf that dared to get in reach was mercilessly slain by the crimson-haired girl who swirled her weapon around as if it had no weight at all. It was now that she noticed that Ruby had her hood pulled over her head so far it almost covered her eyes. Additionally, she heard something else besides the sound of battle, something rhythmical even though it was pretty distorted. Was the crimsonette listening to music? But how could she kill all those Grimm when she couldn't hear and barely see any them?

However, it seemed that Ruby's fighting capabilities weren't negatively affected by this. She easily finished off her opponents, squishing them like bugs. There had been about twenty of the creatures when Weiss had arrived (about half as much as they had defeated on their mission last week) but the heiress knew that her girlfriend had been fighting for some time already before that. Also, the white-haired girl didn't know how long the crimsonette had been here and if this was the first pack she had fended off. She highly doubted it, though.

The Grimm's numbers were dwindling rapidly. Even the Alphas proved themselves just a little more durable than the normal Beowolves and didn't seem to pose a bigger threat to Ruby than their smaller variants. In a mixture of fascination and horror, the heiress watched her girlfriend's display of sheer power and recklessness. If Weiss had to compare this to anything she had seen other Huntsmen or Huntresses do with her own eyes, just one word came to her mind: _Unrivaled_.

With a fierce cry, Ruby cut the last two Beowolves into pieces in a single swing. The heiress noticed that, if this fight had exhausted the younger girl, she hid it pretty well – she just pulled the hood off her head, silenced her headphones and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Suddenly, Weiss remembered why she had come to this forsaken forest in the first place and dashed to the center of the clearing.

"Ruby!"

Upon hearing her name, the younger girl spun around and readied her scythe once more. A furious expression covered her face and it even scared Weiss for a moment. But when the crimsonette recognized her girlfriend, she relaxed and cracked up a beaming smile.

"Hey there, Weiss.", she said in a sugar-sweet voice and collapsed Crescent Rose, "Whatcha doing here?"

"What _I'm_ doing here?", the heiress wasted no time and started to scold her partner, "I'm the one who should be asking you this!"

"Hey, easy there.", Ruby whimpered and held her hands up defensively, "I told you I wanted to get some training done."

"In a forest full of deadly Grimm all by yourself and without letting anybody know where you went?", the heiress yelled reproachfully, "You even turned off your Scroll! Or did you forget to charge it?!"

"No, it's on and right here with me.", Ruby explained and showed her girlfriend the device, "I just turned the call options off so nobody would distract me. I used it to listen to my music, after all."

Then, she checked the main screen and her face went paler than usual. Six missed calls from _Snowflake_ , two from _Sis_ , and a good amount of text messages. "Uh-oh...", the younger girl said meekly, giving Weiss her best I'm-terribly-sorry expression.

" _Uh-oh_ doesn't even describe it in the slightest, Ruby Rose.", the heiress continued to scold her, trying to put as much emphasis into her girlfriend's full name as she could, "You're coming back to Beacon with me immediately. Your friends and I had been worried sick about..." It was now that she noticed a gash at Ruby's side that still dripped a little blood.

"Oh my gosh, Ruby!", Weiss exclaimed, "You're injured!"

"Huh? Really?", the crimsonette asked, a look of utter confusion covering her face until she followed her girlfriend's gaze, "Oh, I guess you're right."

" _I guess you're right_?!", the white-haired girl asked dumbfounded, "Ruby, this looks bad. How couldn't you notice that? Or the fact that your Aura was depleted? And why isn't your body trying to fix it?"

"I don't know. Actually, it doesn't even hurt.", the young scythe-wielder explained, "It's just a scratch anyway."

"Whatever _you_ think it is, you're coming with me immediately. Back to Beacon so someone in the medical ward can patch you up.", Weiss commanded.

"But...", Ruby began but was quickly cut off.

"No buts!", Weiss responded sharply but her concern was still apparent, "Do you have any idea how worried I was about you? No idea where you are, no way to reach you... How would you feel if I did something like this?"

"I'm really, really sorry, Snowflake.", the younger girl said guiltily and gave her girlfriend her trademark puppy-dog eyes, "Kiss and make up?"

"I won't forgive you just now...", the heiress explained, trying to sound resolute but her resolve was starting to crumble when she looked into her girlfriend's silver orbs, "But I would never say no to a kiss."

With these words, she made her way to her smiling partner who already tilted her head slightly in anticipation of Weiss' lips on hers. However, when the white-haired girl was about a foot away from the crimsonette's face, she stopped dead in her tracks.

"Ruby... your eyes...", she said with a hint of worry in her voice. Ruby didn't seem to notice, though.

"I know, using my puppy-dog eyes isn't playing fair but they work so amazingly well.", the younger girl admitted with a sheepish grin.

"That's not what I meant.", Weiss explained, "They look... different." Now that the heiress saw these pools of silver from close up, she noticed that they seemed... duller than usual. Additionally, they were a little bloodshot, the color of the veins slowly transitioning into an even darker shade of red the closer they were to the outer edges until they appeared almost black.

"We're going to the medical ward immediately.", the heiress said, suddenly dead serious, "Something isn't right. Let's go." Then she turned around and left towards Beacon Academy.

"But my kiss...", Ruby whined but followed nonetheless.

"I promise, you'll get it once we got you checked up and your wound is treated.", Weiss explained while she sent a text to her teammates and team JNPR, "But I think you may have caught an illness somehow. Your eyes look strange and your Aura seems to act up."

"Now that you mention it, I do feel kind of weird lately.", the younger girl admitted, "Is there an illness that makes you super-energetic and sharpens your senses?"

"I don't think so.", Weiss retorted flatly as they walked through the forest, "There isn't an illness that makes you act super-imprudent and irresponsible, either, but you do it anyway."

"Hey!", Ruby pouted, "I had everything under control. Did you see how I mowed down these Beowolves?"

The heiress didn't dignify this with an answer. Her mind spun around other questions. What the hell was wrong with her girlfriend? She had started to behave weirdly since they came back from their mission at this fishing village. The stinger from the mutated Grimm! No, Ruby had been checked over and over afterwards in the medical ward... But people make mistakes. Also, nobody knew where these mutated Grimm came from or what caused their changes. Maybe that's why the doctors didn't find a medical explanation for the younger girl's coma. So could it be...?

Weiss quickened her pace as she and Ruby approached Beacon's cliffside. She suddenly had a queasy feeling in her stomach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like Weiss has to be the reasonable AND emotional part of this relationship now. Also, what the hell had Ruby been thinking? Going into a forest full of deadly Grimm all by herself without even telling someone about her whereabouts? And what's with her eyes? Or why is her Aura acting up lately? First, it dropped that much after being hit only once in a sparring match, now it wouldn't heal her body properly anymore, apparently not regenerating as fast as it should... This is bad. But now that Weiss has an assumption about what's going on with her girlfriend, she's going to demand answers – and she most certainly won't take a no for an answer.
> 
> Please tell me your opinion about this chapter in the comments. The cut I originally wanted to make should've been between team WBY and JNPR leaving the cafeteria and them gathering at the cliffside. But I actually don't want to drag out this arc any longer anymore – I miss writing the couple's interaction as well as all the fluffy stuff. But I can promise that at least one of these things will return in the next chapter. Stay tuned. We are about to get to the good (or bad) part.


	30. Getting Self-Destructive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Attention! Out of character at the end of this chapter. Nothing too drastic, yet it could come across a little weird, even though the reasons for it should be pretty clear by now. I don't plan to include that much OOC in this story anyway, but for the sake of the plot, it'll happen a few times. Anyway, try to enjoy. Happier times are about to come... eventually.

Ruby and Weiss were waiting in the medical ward for about an hour now. Both girls had a hard time doing so, but for entirely different reasons. The white-haired girl was still worried sick about her girlfriend. What if her earlier assumptions were right? What was going on with the crimsonette? Ruby herself felt, besides bored out of her brains, pretty guilty now. The moment the rest of her team and team JNPR had gotten to the medical ward as well, she had to face one scolding after another, and they had been pretty harsh.

However, underneath her guilt lingered another feeling: Anger. Admittedly, what she had done had been pretty risky, but she wasn't a little child that needed supervision all the time anymore. She had handled herself pretty well out there, after all. Unfortunately, her friends had left after they were done lecturing her, so Ruby couldn't give them a piece of her mind as well. But then again, this probably would've been a bad idea anyway since her still pretty annoyed girlfriend was sitting right beside her.

The crimsonette had been bandaged and given an Aura enhancer afterwards, so her body could fix the rest by itself. Of course, Ruby had started to whine again when the nurse showed up with the syringe. Weiss just couldn't figure out this girl sometimes: a Beowolf-inflicted gash on her side was something she could easily shrug off, but heaven forbid that someone stuck a minuscule needle in her arm.

After the doctors had treated the crimson-haired girl's wound, they had run a few other basic tests, checked her eyes (since the heiress had told them that something was odd about these) and even took another blood sample (a second needle, much to Ruby's dismay). Then, the younger girl had been told to wait until the doctors had discussed everything. Therefore, Ruby couldn't do much besides sitting around at the moment – and it was starting to annoy her.

At least Weiss was still there to keep her company. But then again, the white-haired girl seemed to be her old, cold, distant self again. No holding hands, no cuddles or kisses, nothing. The crimsonette had no idea why this was the case and it was galling her even more. Admittedly, she had done something stupid, but was this really reason enough for the heiress to withdraw her love completely?

Finally, the door opened again. However, the man who entered the room wasn't a doctor.

* * *

"Greetings, young ladies.", a somewhat weary voice addressed the couple.

"Professor Ozpin?", Ruby and Weiss said in unison, then the white-haired girl added, "What are you doing here?"

"Owing you an explanation, it seems. This is long overdue, after all...", the headmaster chuckled weakly. His expression and voice were full of worry, though.

"That really doesn't sound good.", Ruby remarked and shared a look with her girlfriend. The heiress only nodded, then both girls returned their attention to the grey-haired man.

"Well, there's no point in beating around the bush, so...", Ozpin started with a sigh, "About two weeks ago... our lab staff had found something in Miss Rose's blood. We aren't completely sure what it is yet, but we assume that it is related to the accident on your mission and these mutated Grimm."

'I knew it!', Weiss thought, somewhat satisfied with the fact that she had been right. However, it was, of course, overshadowed by the confirmation that something was seriously wrong with her girlfriend.

"Our researchers don't know much about this mysterious condition at the moment, though it is confirmed that it is accompanied by some hormonal imbalances.", the headmaster continued, "These apparently lead to abnormal alterations of the affected person's mind and body, like the feeling of unrest, sudden change of mood or behavior and libidinal issues, as well as higher metabolism, enhanced muscle efficiency and increased sensory awareness. Apparently, it seems that it has some effects on a person's Aura, too. At least, it doesn't seem to be contagious since the matter is highly unstable and somehow matched to the original host, meaning that it reacted poorly to substitute fluids and even other blood cells."

Okay, now this calmed Weiss down a bit. So she couldn't become infected unless she got stung by one of these weird Grimm as well. But that still left Ruby – the headmaster hadn't told them how to proceed yet. They couldn't just leave things at that, right? Everything the grey-haired man had told them so far was more than alarming. Something had to be done.

Therefore, the heiress asked impatiently: "So what are you going to do about Ruby's condition?" However, the headmaster only sighed at this question and wrapped himself in silence. Weiss didn't like that one bit. But just as she wanted to demand an answer and probably adopt the wrong tone in the process...

"Unfortunately, there isn't much we can do at present.", Ozpin admitted, "We've sent a good amount of Miss Rose's blood samples to a professional research team in Atlas, however, even they hadn't been able to extract or replicate the substance – we got word of this today. Therefore, it is currently impossible to learn more about it or to discover the appropriate remedy. We have no other choice but to either discover the reason for the Grimm's mutation or capture a live specimen. It still isn't completely certain if this will get us any closer to useful results, though."

At this statement, the white-haired girl's worries amplified. The only way to help Ruby was to pursue one of two highly difficult and dangerous goals? And even if they could accomplish one of them, there wasn't any certainty that it would be of any use? This couldn't be true.

The crimsonette, for some reason, only raised one of her raven eyebrows at Ozpins report... as if she didn't grasp the graveness of the headmaster's explanation... as if she didn't mind at all...

"And... as much as I regret it... since there aren't any other remaining options, I request you to go on another mission to aid us accomplishing these tasks.", the grey-haired professor said, "I won't force you to do it, though. Of course, in case you agree, your whole team will be sent this time and you can rely on our and Atlas' support as well as Mr. Ivory and the city guard of the village of Nave."

"Who's Mr. Ivory?", Ruby asked confused. Apparently, she wasn't able to connect the dots about the mission, the fishing village, and the town watch. But, in her defense, the mentioned guy had never told her his last name.

"Ash, the guard captain.", Weiss explained, "The Ex-Huntsman with the fire sword."

"Ohhh... yeah, that thing was really awesome.", the crimsonette remembered with a smile.

"Ruby, focus!", the heiress scolded, "This is serious!"

"Sorry...", the younger girl sighed, sounding a tad bit annoyed.

"Again, I am immensely sorry to ask you all of this.", Professor Ozpin apologized, "But you've found the first clue about these Grimm on Sanus' mainland and you can clearly recognize the Grimm that had attacked Ruby. I am certain that your participation in this mission will increase our chance of success."

For a moment, Weiss didn't know what to respond to this request. These mutated Grimm were highly dangerous, even more so now that it was known that they could infect people with a currently incurable illness. And she and her teammates were only second-year students, after all.

But, on the other hand: Shouldn't she try to do everything within her power to help her Rose Petal? Could she live with the knowledge of letting her girlfriend down, turning a blind eye to the fact that Ruby's life was endangered? Just because she was afraid of this mission? No... she could never forgive herself that!

"I know that this is a lot to ask for – it will most certainly be the most dangerous task you've ever been assigned to.", the headmaster continued, "I think it would be best for you to return to the dorms, for now, to digest all these information and consult with the rest of your team on this matter. But then again, please do not feel forced to go on this mission, even though it concerns Miss Rose. Any reservations are fully understandable since we will have to deal with a situation that is going to pose a threat even to experienced Huntsmen and Huntresses."

Okay, now that sounded reasonable, Weiss had to admit – at least the part about digesting the news and letting Blake and Yang know about this as soon as possible. However, the part about backing down was out of the question. There was no way she or her teammates would just sit around while Ruby was suffering from a mysterious illness – incredibly dangerous mission or not!

However, one thing was still bothering the white-haired girl.

"You said that you know about Ruby's condition for about two weeks now...", Weiss suddenly said, "Why haven't you told us before?"

"It had been considered the best course of action not to stress or frighten you with the news until we would've learned more about Ruby's condition.", Ozpin explained, "I am, again, sorry that I left you in the dark about it. In retrospect, it hadn't been right to withhold this information from you."

"Well, thank you for telling us now, I guess...", the crimson-haired girl simply responded, "Now that I know about this, I can probably... well, take better care of me or something. Maybe eat healthier and the like because of the metabolism stuff."

Weiss only raised an eyebrow at her girlfriend's remark. _This_ was the only thing Ruby thought about? On the other hand, the crimsonette was probably utterly shocked after she had heard all of that, so it was comprehensible that she didn't mention the Grimm stuff. Maybe she even tried to repress it at the moment.

"Well, I guess this could also help a little for the time being.", Professor Ozpin chuckled, apparently glad that the younger girl hadn't lost her optimism. This would probably slow down the aggravation of the disease, after all. However, it wouldn't help them to discover a cure. They needed to find out more about these mutated Grimm... and fast.

"Anyway, I know I have overwhelmed you with information right now, highly disturbing ones, on top of that.", the headmaster finished, "I suggest that you go back to your dorm now to think about everything I've just told you. Miss Rose's Aura should be able to heal her wound itself now, so there's no need for you to stay in the medical ward anymore. However, I recommend you to inform your teammates about the details of this conversation as soon as possible, so you four can discuss your next steps regarding the upcoming mission and decide whether or not to participate. We can't afford to take more time than absolutely necessary in this matter. Therefore, I expect your answer on Monday at the latest. If you excuse me now, I have to make a lot of arrangements myself."

He turned around to leave, but before he exited the room, he addressed the two girls one last time: "But be assured of this: Whether or not you decide to participate in this mission, I promise you that we'll do everything within our power to find a way to help Ruby. Have a good day, ladies. You're free to leave as well." Then, the grey-haired Professor disappeared.

Both girls looked after him. They still couldn't believe what they had just heard. An unknown Grimm illness? Another dangerous mission? Ruby and Weiss then turned to face each other, but no one had an idea what to say. The heiress noticed that her girlfriend's eyes had mostly returned to normal by now, yet, there was still a somewhat darker tint to the outer edges.

"I guess we should get out of here as well.", Weiss broke the silence with a sigh, "There isn't anything the doctors can help us with at the moment, anyway."

"Sounds good to me. I'd also like to eat something. I have skipped breakfast, after all.", the crimsonette pondered, "Higher metabolism means that I have to eat more, right?"

"As if you need a reason for that, Rose Petal.", the white-haired girl said eye rolling but was somehow relieved that the news hadn't devastated her girlfriend, "But you're right, nonetheless. So I will overlook the fact that you're eating even more sweets than usual today." Maybe concentrating on the small stuff was some kind of coping mechanism for Ruby. The heiress decided to play along for the moment, and to be there for the younger girl, so she wouldn't lose her hope. Ruby had done this for her one and a half months ago, too, after all – and then over and over again, countless times.

"Yay!", the crimsonette cheered at her girlfriend's last statement, then she jumped from the examination bed she had sat on for the last hour and stormed out of the room. Weiss followed suit.

* * *

They made their way through the medical ward, heading for the cafeteria. Ruby even had a little bounce in her step. But even though Weiss was glad that her girlfriend took everything so lightly, she wasn't sure if it was healthy for her to just repress it. They had to talk about her disease and the upcoming mission eventually, at the latest when they would tell their teammates about everything Ozpin had told them. In the heiress' opinion, it was probably better to discuss it with the crimsonette beforehand, before they broke the news to Blake and Yang. However, the white-haired girl had no idea how to approach the topic.

"Man, I haven't even noticed that I'm starving. I'm going to eat two main courses today, as well as a whole cheesecake.", Ruby explained, "Gotta keep this new body in shape, after all, and if I need more food now, then so be it."

"Don't get too accustomed to that, though.", Weiss said, "We'll go on that mission and find a cure, then you're going to be back to normal in no time. I promise that everything will go fine." She said the last part more to herself than to her girlfriend, though. Failure wasn't an option. Ruby's life depended on their success.

"Well... about that...", the crimsonette suddenly said and slowed down a bit.

"What's the matter?", the heiress asked worried and adjusted her pace as well.

"Umm... it's... it's about the mission.", Ruby sighed and came to a complete halt.

"Are you afraid of going back?", Weiss wanted to know and prepared herself to comfort her girlfriend. Apparently, her optimistic façade was already starting to crumble, but after everything they've heard, the white-haired girl kinda knew that this would happen. However, she hadn't thought it would happen so soon and just from her mentioning her girlfriend's current state of health.

"No... that's not it.", the younger girl said, "It's... complicated." It seemed like she wanted to say something but couldn't figure out how to do so. She looked all flustered and Weiss didn't like it one bit.

"Are you worried that we may not find a way to help you?", the heiress asked further, then she pulled the crimsonette into a gentle embrace, "I promise you that I won't rest until we've found something to cure you. Ozpin told you that much as well. We'll find a way, so please cheer up again. Try to stay that cute, optimistic girl I fell in love with, even though it's hard..." Then she gave her girlfriend a gentle kiss on the cheek.

"No... it's about something else.", Ruby admitted and wriggled herself out of the embrace, much to Weiss' dismay.

"Then what is it?", the white-haired girl pressed, "You can tell me everything, Rose Petal. I'll be there for you, no matter what."

"I...", the crimsonette began, trying to sort her thoughts, "I just don't think I want to go on that mission."

"What? Why?", Weiss asked confused, "You said you weren't afraid and..."

"I AM not afraid.", Ruby interrupted her, "I'm not really afraid of anything anymore. And that's the point. I... I don't think I want a cure."

"What?!", the heiress gasped. What did her girlfriend mean by that?

"I mean... I'm really strong now, and tough, and I fight better than ever.", the younger girl explained, "I don't need that much sleep anymore, either, just a quick nap every now and then."

"Y-you can't be serious?!", Weiss said, completely flabbergasted, "There is some unknown matter contaminating your blood."

"Ozpin said himself that they barely know anything about it at the moment.", Ruby replied, "Maybe the mutated Grimm are causing it, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's bad. The Grimm are just bad because they are... well, bad by nature. This mutation just made them stronger, not more evil. And it made me stronger as well."

"But at what cost?!", the heiress mentioned, now talking in a lecturing tone, "This stuff messes with your mind and body. You can't sleep regularly anymore, you have weird mood swings, your reasoning is impaired, and you're a lot more... well, lustful at the moment." She blushed a little at her last remark, but Ozpin had said libidinal issues were among the symptoms, after all.

"As if you don't like me being a little more _proactive_ in that department.", the crimsonette said seductively and gave her girlfriend a suggestive look.

"Ruby, take this more seriously!", Weiss responded while blushing even redder, but she managed to maintain her scolding expression and tone, "You aren't yourself anymore. How can you not be worried about this? Or at least care about it?!" Even though she hated it to go back to being her old, chiding self, she had no other choice so this girl would realize that she couldn't be so casual about her condition.

"It's not that bad.", Ruby explained, and she started to get cross with her girlfriend, "I'm getting used to this new sleep pattern and I'm not being moody unless someone annoys me. And the good stuff outweighs the bad stuff by a long shot. I'm a much better Huntress now like I always wanted. I won't disappoint you guys anymore! I can be a leader you can be proud of! A Huntress and leader even Ozpin, and even my mother can be proud of! And most importantly: I can finally protect everybody – YOU included, by the way!"

"YOU CAN'T EVEN PROTECT YOURSELF, YOU DOLT!", Weiss spat, trying to talk some sense into Ruby. However, the heiress said it a lot harsher than originally intended. There suddenly was a long, awkward silence.

"Huh...", Ruby then chuckled weakly, "I never thought you would use this word in... _that_ way again."

"Well, excuse me but, at the moment, you are behaving like the biggest dolt there is.", the white-haired girl retorted flatly and crossed her arms.

"Oh, I'm so sorry.", the younger girl said sarcastically, "So you're saying that you are way smarter than the research guys from Atlas and have this stuff all figured out. Then please, enlighten me. How much of a _dolt_ does that condition make me?"

"I can't believe I have to explicitly tell you that...", the heiress sighed annoyed, "Everybody else noticed. Even Yang and Nora. You're behaving totally weird lately, and not in a good way. And just in case you want examples: The way you chewed out your sister when she found out about my secret was..."

"That speech was long overdue.", Ruby quickly interrupted her girlfriend, "And I did this for us. For you, so Yang wouldn't think you tried to take advantage of me and my innocence, and for me, so she would finally realize that I'm not a baby anymore."

"Fine... I appreciate that. But you could've been nicer. Getting this angry was pretty unlike you.", Weiss explained, then she continued, "Anyway, moving on. What about our mission when we fought the pack of Beowolves? Your suicide plan. Were you _really_ unable to come up with something better, or did you just not care?"

"That had just been bad luck, geez.", the crimsonette groaned, "If my shot had killed the Alpha right away, my plan would've been successful. And everything turned out fine, so what's the big deal?"

"Next up, the sparring match against Pyrrha.", Weiss brought in, "A single hit from her depleted almost half of your Aura. And after that, you tried to split her skull, apparently blind with rage. You even overheard the buzzer after you had defeated her."

"That was just a heat-of-the-moment kind of thing.", Ruby explained, "And I realized soon enough that the match was over. As for my Aura, that hit had been hard. Besides, everyone's Aura is different. Jaune's is stronger than everybody else's, mine's apparently weaker. So what? I don't need a strong Aura unless I get hit... which happens less and less recently anyway."

"Enough with your fragile excuses.", the heiress scolded, "Be reasonable. We have to find a way to cure you."

"You're just jealous because I'm right.", the younger girl said disdainfully, "And because I'm so much better than you now."

"Ruby! This is a Grimm-caused illness! And it messes with your whole being!", Weiss stressed, her voice now showing a weird mixture of fury and despair, "And it steadily gets worse and worse! Is it really that wrong that I don't want my girlfriend to become uncaring, cruel and evil?!"

At this comment, the younger girl's eyes went wide. The heiress knew that it had been incredibly harsh to say it like that, but trying to sugarcoat it hadn't been working at all. Hopefully, her girlfriend would finally understand how serious all of this was now – if not for herself, then at least for her Snowflake. However, a few seconds later, Ruby's silver eyes darkened... a lot. And not just figuratively...

"What?!", the crimsonette spat, "What are you talking about?! Take that back immediately!"

"W-well, you didn't listen when I tried to explain it in another way. So I just said it flat-out.", Weiss said defensively, "Can you really blame me for that? I'm worried about you! About my Rose Petal! Why are you suddenly so angry?"

"Because you just told me I'm turning into a Grimm!", Ruby snarled, "Do you have any idea how hurtful that was, besides the fact that it sounds completely stupid?"

"I never said anything like that.", the heiress clarified, "I was just trying to..."

"Okay, you've told me that I'm becoming _like_ a Grimm.", Ruby cut her off and added sarcastically, "Biiig difference. I'm sorry." Then, she turned on her heel and left.

"I didn't say that, either.", Weiss quickly explained and caught up with her girlfriend, "And don't walk out on me like that! Do you hear me?!"

The crimsonette didn't answer. She just continued to walk. However, when the couple reached the next intersection Ruby turned right, even though the quickest way to the cafeteria (their intended destination) was to the left – and the crimsonette knew this. Her actions confused and worried the white-haired girl again.

"May I at least ask you where you are going now?", the heiress wanted to know as she tried to keep step with her girlfriend, "It's the other way to the cafeteria."

"I'm gonna go blow off some steam.", the crimsonette responded deadpan, "I'm angry and I don't like that very much... unlike a Grimm."

"Ruby, please. Let us talk this over.", Weiss almost begged, "Besides, you're still injured."

"Don't worry. I'll leave my Scroll on and I won't leave the campus, either.", Ruby said, still without turning around, "Would be a real shame if your babysitter reputation suffers because of stupid, old me, right?"

"Come on!", Weiss sighed in defeat, "I'm sorry, okay! I'm just worried! And I already told you that I wasn't trying to say that you're becoming a Grimm!"

"That doesn't change the fact that I need some time to myself or I'll probably say something I may regret later. I still love you, after all.", the younger girl explained, "Hard to believe, huh? I'm still able to feel that way and think about this despite slowly turning into a mindless monster."

"Enough with the sarcasm already!", the heiress groaned as she quickened her steps to keep up because the crimsonette was doing the same, "And stop putting words in my mouth."

"You're right.", Ruby sighed and abruptly came to a halt, so that Weiss almost bumped into her, "That wasn't the plan. I don't want to hurt you, after all. So... see ya."

A moment later, Weiss only saw a flurry of rose petals rushing down the corridor before it disappeared behind a corner.

"Ruby!", the heiress cat-called, but it was already too late. She knew she couldn't catch up with her when the girl was using her Semblance like that. Hopefully, the crimsonette would keep her word and won't do something stupid again. However, her reaction had been pretty drastic... and unpredictable... and unreasonable. How could she turn a blind eye to her condition?

"Ruby...", Weiss sighed to herself as she watched the rose petals on the floor slowly evaporate, "What is happening to you?" She felt her eyes getting damp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay... now that's something the REAL Ruby would never do. It seems that her illness starts to mess with her mind already. Whew, this is bad. Hopefully, she comes to her senses soon, so team RWBY can go on this mission and fix this.
> 
> Writing the end of this chapter felt pretty weird, even weirder than writing the second Ruby-version in my other story. Unfortunately, I've planned to include this when I started the story, so no turning back in that matter. I'll try to keep the crimsonette's little outbursts short, though.
> 
> Also, the coastal town where the partner mission took place now has a name. I wanted to avoid that, though, since it's kind of hard to come up with something good that also complies with all the naming rules RWBY has, but I guess it's okay to go with a simple name for a simple fishing village. I've added the name to the beginning of chapter 18 as well so that it's mentioned at least one time before Ozpin's speech.
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you think of the chapter. We all knew that something like this would happen eventually, so please don't be overly mean (you're going to hate me, right^^). But don't worry. There's still hope for the crimsonette and for our little couple to find happiness in the end. I don't plan to sink the ship (I probably couldn't anyway).


	31. We Have to Find That Grimm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. I kinda tried to defer writing this chapter for... reasons.
> 
> Warning! Ruby attempts to do something very, very bad. I'll only say that it isn't especially violent, she doesn't succeed, it felt pretty wrong to write it, and I will most certainly not include anything like this in future chapters again. But, for the sake of the plot, here it is...

Even though Weiss was immensely worried about her Rose Petal now, she knew better than to bother her at the moment. It was probably the best to let her cool off for a bit – immediately talking about her condition again would most certainly be met with repulsion.

Of course, the heiress told her teammates about the little episode. To say that Yang and Blake were shocked would've been an understatement. However, they agreed with the white-haired girl's plan not to pester Ruby with even more questions or persuasion attempts for now. The crimsonette probably needed some time to herself to digest everything.

At least, Ruby seemed to keep her promise of not doing anything stupid. The younger girl sent pictures of her at the gym to the heiress' Scroll regularly. Her expression spoke volumes about her current mood – even though it wasn't hostile anymore, she was still pretty annoyed. In the afternoon, Weiss received further pictures of Ruby in Vale at locations she usually visited: Her favorite weapon part shop, the bakery she frequented, etc. The heiress didn't approve of the fact that her girlfriend had left the campus, but fortunately enough the younger girl still seemed to keep her nose out of any trouble.

Weiss hung out with Yang and Blake for the rest of the day to keep her mind off her worries. There wasn't anything she could do at the moment anyway. Of course, she tried to come up with something to say once Ruby had returned – if not to change her mind today, then at least to pour some oil on troubled waters. The more important talk should wait until tomorrow when her teammates could back her up.

The last picture Ruby sent to her girlfriend was one of herself back at Beacon's campus around seven o'clock. It was then that Weiss decided that she should go back to her room to wait for her. But before she left, she stressed the importance of tomorrow's intervention to her teammates once more. Yang and Blake reassured her that they would try to come up with a ton of arguments to convince Ruby of the fact that she needed a cure. The white-haired girl thanked them one last time, then she left for her room.

* * *

However, the crimsonette seemed to take her time to show up, but the heiress tried to stay awake for as long as possible to wait for her return. Soon, it was ten o'clock and she was getting pretty tired. Apparently, always rising early had not only advantages. After a few more minutes, Weiss came to the conclusion that it didn't make any sense to wait for Ruby because of the crimsonette's new, weird sleeping patterns. Tomorrow would be time enough to talk about everything. The heiress knew that the younger girl would eventually come back to her. She had said that she loved her, after all. Right?

Weiss had barely finished her evening routine, turned off the lights and got into bed when the door suddenly opened. The white-haired girl knew exactly who the intruder was but she had already decided to postpone their debate. She was too tired now anyway. Also, she didn't know about Ruby's current mood. Therefore, for the sake of preventing that something like earlier would happen again, she pretended to be asleep.

However, the crimsonette apparently wanted to handle the situation a little different.

"Weiss?", she whispered after closing the door, "Are you asleep?"

No response. The addressed girl just laid there, motionless. Her breathing didn't give some indication of her state of alert, either.

"Weeeiiiss?", Ruby tried again in a sing-song voice. Again, nothing.

The heiress continued pretending to be asleep. It was probably better to talk about everything when she was well rested and after she had made sure that Ruby had calmed down and was thinking clearly again. The chances of that were higher after a good night's sleep. Also, Weiss knew that comforting other people wasn't her strong point, even more so when she was tired, and she couldn't afford to fuck this up.

Soon, the white-haired girl heard the rustling of clothes and the door to the closet being opened and closed again. Apparently, Ruby was changing into her pajamas. She didn't even bother to go to the bathroom to do this – being naked around each other was long since nothing to be embarrassed about anymore.

However, what came next caught the white-haired girl completely off guard. The mattress sunk in a little deeper when Ruby crawled into the bed behind her and gently hugged her under the covers.

"Weiss?", the younger girl whispered again, "Let's not be mad at each other anymore, okay? Please?"

Even though the heiress didn't want to, her body let out a content sigh and wriggled closer to her girlfriend on its own. It just felt too nice being hugged by this crimson-haired dolt. Of course, this action clearly indicated that she wasn't completely asleep.

"Listen, Snowflake.", Ruby continued quietly and pulled her girlfriend a little closer, "We both did something stupid: You said really awful things and I snapped at you. Can't we just... forget about it and be happy, lovestruck idiots again?" She giggled a bit at the last part.

However, Weiss' answer was just something between a groan and a huff. Even though she would like nothing better than to do exactly this, it wouldn't settle the case. The crimsonette needed to understand that she couldn't take her condition lightly. Pretending that everything was fine was most certainly the wrong way to do so. At least until the younger girl realized that they needed to find a cure.

"Come on...", Ruby purred, snuggled up even closer and gave the white-haired girl a soft peck on the cheek, "How about we kiss and make up... if you know what I mean?" The gesture and suggestion made Weiss' defense crumble, if only a little.

"Maybe tomorrow.", the heiress whispered back, but gently grabbed one of her girlfriend's hands nonetheless, "I'm still a little mad at you, after all."

"Look, I'm sorry, okay.", the crimsonette sighed, "I'm trying to apologize here, even though it's not just my fault. Don't give me such a hard time..." The words had barely left her mouth when she buried her head in the crook of Weiss' neck and dragged her lips along it while squeezing her girlfriend's hand.

"If you want to apologize, you can start by coming to your senses again.", the white-haired girl explained, then she added a little more conciliatorily, "We can discuss any... _further steps_... when you're done with that."

Maybe that would help the crimson-haired girl realize that something was wrong with her. Denying Ruby affection was most certainly a mean move – Weiss knew this and didn't like doing it. But since their relationship was one of the most important things in their lives, the heiress was sure she could use it to push her girlfriend in the right direction. However, the younger girl handled this ultimatum different as well.

"As you may remember, I'm really not that good at waiting for stuff...", Ruby whispered seductively while nibbling on her girlfriend's earlobe.

"I guess you don't have any other choice but to...", Weiss began but was quickly interrupted. A gasp escaped her throat the moment she felt Ruby's other hand creep between her legs, her fingers grasping a certain organ through the fabric of her nightgown.

"Gah! Ruby!", the heiress yelped and finally turned around to face her girlfriend, "What the hell do you think you are doing?"

"As I said: _Apologizing_.", the younger girl simply responded and captured Weiss' lips with her own immediately afterwards. However, the heiress quickly broke the kiss and turned away again.

"I'm not in the mood.", she then responded and tried to push Ruby's hand away from her still flaccid member... unsuccessfully.

"Wanna play hard to get, huh?", the crimsonette asked and gave Weiss' dick a squeeze. And even though the heiress tried to prevent it, a moan escaped her lips. This action caused the younger girl to grin mischievously as she continued to stroke the cock in her grasp. Nevertheless, Weiss knew that she had to remain steadfast... at least for Ruby's sake.

"What part of _not in the mood_ didn't you get?", the heiress huffed and grabbed her girlfriend's hand to induce her to stop, "If you have an itch to scratch, do it on your own."

"Don't pretend you don't like it.", Ruby purred, quickly turned her girlfriend around again and crawled on top of her, kissing her neck once more, "I know better by now."

"Hey, listen to me, you dolt!", Weiss said annoyed and tried to wriggle herself free, "I don't want to do... _that_ right now. Period!" Her statement and actions fell on deaf ears, though. Ruby continued to jerk off her cock and started to get a little... well, less patient.

"The last time you didn't want to do this that determined, you poisoned yourself.", the crimsonette reminded the heiress, a taunting tone in her voice, "If we can learn anything from this, then it's that _I_ am always right on this matter."

Then, she kissed the white-haired girl on the lips again. But the moment it happened, Weiss immediately noticed that it wasn't like the usual kisses they shared when they were about to love each other. It was harsh, almost uncaring, and possessive, but not the cute form of possessiveness Ruby sometimes showed. To the heiress, it felt like she was property, that she had to do whatever the crimsonette wanted right now, without any say. That she wasn't her lover, her friend or even partner. It felt like she was prey.

"Why won't you get erect?", Ruby asked annoyed, ignoring Weiss' struggles beneath her by simply pushing her down again, "Don't you love me anymore?"

Okay, this assumption stung a little, but if the heiress would be completely honest... at the moment, she didn't. She was treated like a toy, not like a loved one. Weiss tried to rise up against Ruby again but was pushed down once more – with only one hand. How the hell got this girl so strong?! It was now, when their eyes met for a split second, frightened blue versus uncaring silver, that the heiress noticed the now very prominent black tint to Ruby's eyes... and it spoke volumes about her current state of mind. This wasn't her Rose Petal. This wasn't Ruby at all.

"I'll make you love me. If you want to or not!", the crimsonette hissed and assaulted her girlfriend's neck again. Her new strength made it easy for her to dominate the heiress, whose anxiety grew by the second. The hand that was jerking Weiss' member quickly slipped under her nightgown and yanked her panties down, then it continued its efforts to bring the slowly responding organ to full mast.

"R-ruby! Stop this immediately!", Weiss whined as she came to realize that she wasn't able to push the crimson-haired girl away. She hated herself for the fact that her dick was slowly getting erect, sending the wrong signals, but she couldn't do anything about it. The white-haired girl briefly considered to use her Semblance to somehow break free, yet, she couldn't bring herself to hurt her girlfriend. Also, what would Ruby do to her if it failed?

Suddenly, the ripping of fabric echoed through the room. With her free hand (since it wasn't needed anymore to push Weiss down), the crimsonette tore the heiress' nightgown at the chest, exposing her breasts in the process. Barely a second later, Ruby started to squeeze one of the small mounds roughly. It was obvious that she was getting more and more annoyed about the fact that the dick in her grasp wasn't fully erect by now. Weiss, however, couldn't do anything about that: she was scared, not aroused in the slightest.

The next thing the heiress felt was teeth grazing her neck, cold, unloving, and intimidating. Fortunately, they didn't seem to draw blood... at the moment. Yet, it was extremely unpleasant and probably only a matter of time before Ruby got even more violent. The white-haired girl knew she had to do something. Her mind was blank, though, like so often in this bed... but this time, not with pleasure but with terror.

"Why are you not ready by now?", Ruby snarled and bit down on the heiress' neck, not overly forceful, but strong enough leave an ugly mark and to coax another pained whine out of Weiss' throat, "You're mine! Act like it!" She gave the white-haired girl's dick another squeeze, her nipple another tweak and her neck another bite – no love bite... a threat.

"R-ruby... please...", Weiss whimpered and shut her eyes tightly as a tear rolled down her cheek, "R-rose Petal... Y-You're hurting me..."

* * *

Then, in an instant, the weight was lifted from Weiss' body and she heard a loud _thud_! When she opened her eyes again, rose petals were dancing in front of them. The heiress quickly covered her exposed chest and took a more defensive posture, then she scanned the room for her girlfriend. And she found her...

The crimson-haired girl she was looking for sat with her back to the door, staring into space and trembling like a leaf. Devastated, distraught, terrified... all these words couldn't even nearly describe the expression on her face. She was deathly pale and looked like she had aged at least twenty years. The clattering of her teeth could probably be heard even outside of the dorm room, regardless of the walls' soundproofing. She was, without a doubt, a picture of complete misery.

Even though Weiss had any right to be furious her girlfriend, she couldn't bring herself to do so. She was smart enough to understand that it hadn't been Ruby's fault. The crimsonette's condition was taking its toll on her and now that the younger girl was (apparently) back to normal, she had most certainly realized what it was doing to her. This had been the final straw... and probably the moment the heiress had waited for to talk some sense into her Rose Petal. But how to approach this sensitive topic without driving her away again?

"R-ruby?", Weiss asked carefully and with a lump in her throat. Seeing her girlfriend this terrified hurt... a lot. Upon hearing her name, the crimsonette snapped back to reality. However, her reaction was anything but welcome.

"Stay away from me!!!", the younger girl shrieked and pushed herself against the door furiously, "I-I'm dangerous!"

There was a long silence. Neither Weiss nor Ruby dared to move a single millimeter. They just stared at each other, the crimsonette's eyes even more fearful now than the heiress' a few moments ago. She knew what horrible thing she had tried to do... almost successfully.

"Ruby, please...", the heiress whispered after she had found her voice back and moved to the edge of the bed, "Just... calm down and let us talk about..."

"NO!", the crimson-haired girl yelled and stood up again, tears in her eyes, "S-stay back! I'm just going to hurt you again! I-I don't want that!"

"D-don't worry. I'm fine.", Weiss lied, so Ruby would calm down a little. However, she immediately noticed that the crimsonette's eyes wandered over her neck to see the ugly bite marks she had left there. The heiress tried to cover them but it was already too late.

"What have I done?", the younger girl whispered, terrified, "You were right... I've become a monster... like..." She cut herself off and her eyes went even wider than before.

"Ruby, stay calm...", Weiss whispered gently, finally stood up from the bed and approached the crimson-haired girl.

"Don't come any closer!", Ruby shrieked again, "Run away from me as far as possible!" Then she realized that she was blocking the only exit. Weiss noticed as well that her girlfriend's eyes darted to the door. However, before she could say something, it was, yet again, too late.

"S-stay here. W-where you're safe from me.", the crimsonette choked out and, barely a second later, she ripped the door open and exploded into a flurry of rose petals.

"Ruby, wait!", Weiss yelled and stormed out into the hallway as well, still in her tattered gown. Yet, she knew she wasn't nearly fast enough to catch up with the girl. The only thing the heiress found in the corridor was a trail of petals that slowly evaporated. They were the only sign of Ruby.

"D-don't leave me...", the white-haired girl sobbed.

* * *

As fast as she could, Weiss changed into her usual attire and stormed out of the room to look for her girlfriend. The heiress remembered what she had wanted to do when she had left the room completely devastated after the crimsonette had found out about her secret. What if Ruby wanted to do the same now? What if she ran away again, into the Emerald Forest, but this time unarmed? A million worst-case scenarios ran through the heiress' mind and every single one left her with only one conclusion – she had to find her Rose Petal, no matter what.

However, this time she didn't call the rest of her team or her other friends. This whole thing had to remain a secret between her and her girlfriend. If anybody else would find out, it would most certainly upset or depress Ruby even more. And that mustn't happen. Finding and comforting the girl was a task Weiss had to do alone.

At first, she checked the rooftop – it had been the place she had gone herself back then, after all. But Ruby wasn't there. Then, the heiress checked the gym, but again: no Ruby. Crescent Rose was still in its locker, but the white-haired girl couldn't decide if this was a good or a bad thing. The cafeteria was already closed, the library as well. The dorms and hallways of the main buildings were void of any people, too. Where could Ruby have gone?

With no particular destination in mind, the white-haired girl trudged through the courtyard. Her energy was spent, her hopes were crushed. Her anxiety had long since been replaced with grave sadness. What if Ruby had run away after all? What if she really had gone to the Emerald Forest, alone and unarmed, to end it?

Weiss' tears fell freely now as her feet carried her over the campus on their own. For some reason, they took her to the cliff near the airship docks. This was the place where she had first met her Rose Petal, she remembered. A cute, yet clumsy girl, with cartoonishly large silver eyes and a mop of wild, unkempt black and red hair.

...like the one who was sitting on the bench mere feet away from her.

The heiress immediately came to a halt.

There was Ruby. She simply sat on a bench near the spot they first met, completely calm and staring into space. She must've noticed the white-haired girl, even without her enhanced senses, yet, she didn't move or said a word.

Even though Weiss had thought about how to approach her girlfriend the whole time she was looking for her, her mind was suddenly blank. It reminded her of the night Ruby had found out about her secret yet again. However, this time it was a little different: _She_ had to do the comforting now, something she knew she sucked at. But she also knew that she had to say something, anything... This was her Rose Petal, after all.

"Hey...", the white-haired girl whispered carefully. It wasn't much, but at least a beginning. She even saw Ruby tense up a little at the word, but besides that, she showed no reaction at all.

"Ruby... please talk to me.", Weiss requested as gently as humanly possible, "You've lost control in a bad situation, but everything's fine. You held yourself back because you didn't want to hurt me... because you love me, an emotion a... Grimm isn't able to have. You're no monster, you just have something in your blood that's messing with you. An illness. But I promise you that we'll get through this somehow. Together. Like always."

Again, Ruby didn't respond. She just sat there, completely motionless. As Weiss took a step closer to her girlfriend, she noticed that the crimsonette had been crying... no, that she _was_ crying. It broke the heiress' heart. She couldn't imagine what Ruby went through at the moment and she felt helpless, useless. Weiss had no idea how to comfort her girlfriend, how to take away the pain this formerly happy and lively girl was feeling right now.

* * *

"R-rose Petal...", the heiress began anew but, to her surprise, she was cut off.

"W-we have to find that Grimm...", Ruby suddenly sobbed, barely audible, "T-to... to fix me."

Well, that was unexpected... unexpected, but welcome nonetheless. The younger girl had finally realized what this weird illness was doing to her and wanted to find a cure now, too. And Weiss was relieved. If attempted rape had been needed to make her girlfriend come back to her senses, the white-haired girl had gladly suffered it. It wouldn't even have mattered to the heiress if Ruby had succeeded as long as the outcome would've been the same - she would endure anything for her Rose Petal.

"O-or... at least you guys have to.", the younger girl continued, "I should be locked up somewhere in the school's basement or something... where I can't pose a threat to anyone."

"What are you talking about?", Weiss asked confused and, of course, worried.

"You've seen me.", Ruby sighed with a sniffle, "I-I'm... I'm in no condition to go on a mission... or to be around people. What if I hurt Blake, or Yang, or Ash, or... you again."

"Ruby, don't be ridiculous.", the heiress said and finally took a seat next to her, "You're our leader... and my girlfriend. There's no way I'm leaving you behind or let someone lock you away. You need me now as much as I needed you when I was so miserable because of my secret."

"That's not the same.", the younger girl objected, "You were depressed. I'm dangerous."

"It's exactly the same. It's about being there for each other.", Weiss explained, "We made a promise to never leave the other's side. I want to repay you for every wonderful thing you've done for me... even though I wished the circumstances were different. So you're coming with us. And now you're coming back to our room with me. No objections."

She said the last part firmly, but with honest sympathy and affection in her voice. However, the heiress couldn't suppress the hint of fear that still lingered in it. What had happened back in the dorm room was still affecting her, but Weiss knew she mustn't show it. Unfortunately, Ruby noticed.

"You should leave. You're scared of me.", the crimsonette sobbed, "Don't force yourself to do this and endanger yourself just because you think you owe me something. I'm not worth it anymore."

"Of course, you are!", the heiress said with emphasis, "And I'm not scared of you. I'm worried about you. About my Rose Petal."

To prove this, she leaned in and rested her head on Ruby's shoulder, but not before kissing her gently on the cheek. This gesture made the younger girl tense up again, but the moment she felt her girlfriend's hair tickle her neck and smelled her vanilla-scented shampoo, she relaxed... if only a little.

"Please, Ruby. Let me help you.", Weiss whispered, "And, most importantly, let me love you. Don't push me away, at least not completely. I understand if you want to keep a little distance as long as you're... like this. But your condition mustn't break us up. I won't let this happen."

"But you've seen what I did. I tried to... _rape_ you.", the crimson-haired girl sniffled, "I'm disgusting... and evil... and I'm definitely no company for you anymore... for nobody, actually."

"There were a million times when I thought I wasn't good enough to be your girlfriend.", the heiress reminded Ruby, "And not a single time you left me be until you convinced me that I was wrong. Now it's my turn to do so. I'll never abandon you... if you want to or not. We're going to fix you and be happy again. Together."

She then looked Ruby in the eyes with a determination the crimsonette had never seen before and her firm voice left no doubt that she meant everything she had said well and truly. Now there was only one thing left to do for the white-haired girl to make it absolutely clear that she wanted to leave the ugly episode from earlier behind.

"So... Kiss and make up?", Weiss asked and slowly leaned in, stopping a mere inch from her girlfriend's lips and looking at her again, eyes full of love and affection this time. Fortunately, this, combined with her speech, was enough for younger girl to accept her proposal.

"Kiss and make up.", Ruby answered in a whisper and closed the gap between them, even though she just gave the heiress a quick and hesitant peck. But after everything that had happened, Weiss knew this was as good as it got at the moment.

"Alright. And now let's go back to our room.", the white-haired girl suggested, "It gets pretty brisk at night and you're only wearing your pajamas."

"I-I guess you're right...", Ruby agreed and sniffled one last time, "B-but... we're sleeping separately. Stay away from my bed. I... I don't want to hurt you anymore."

"Okay.", Weiss sighed with a nod, "I'm fine with that as long as you promise not to run away again."

"I promise.", the crimsonette responded, even though it sounded a little forced.

With these words, the young couple rose from the bench and made their way back to the dorms. However, instead of walking beside each other, Ruby made sure to stay behind her girlfriend a few yards. She was, without a doubt, still scared of herself and of what she had done and probably feared that something like that could happen again.

Weiss didn't like the crimsonette's actions one bit, but she didn't address it. At least for the moment, it seemed that Ruby was back to normal... well, as normal as possible, given her current condition.

Nevertheless, the heiress knew it was an uneasy peace they had made and it wouldn't settle the case. They needed to find out more about the mutated Grimm to get anywhere near helping Ruby... which meant going on another dangerous mission. And that meant more fighting, more rage, and more chances for the crimson-haired girl to snap again.

How much more could their relationship endure?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry we had to go through this. I have planned that Ruby attempts to do something like this since the very beginning of the story, and even though it turned out that I hated to write it, I stuck with it. At least it fulfilled its purpose if nothing else: the crimsonette got her much needed wake-up call – something impactful enough that even her Grimm-affected mind couldn't turn a blind eye to it.
> 
> Let me know what you think about this chapter. If you have something negative to say, please be at least polite. I'm going to write the next chapter now. After all of this, I'm dead certain that we've earned a little fluff, don't you think? Looks like Ruby and Weiss need something like that, too, for a change. Again, I'm very sorry about this chapter...


	32. You've Always Come Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, folks. Sorry for the long wait. I was pretty busy doing (and writing) other stuff the last few weeks, but I finally found the time to get this chapter done – a freaking long one at that. Top five, I guess, maybe even top three. But still... I haven't thought it would take that long to finish it.
> 
> As you may remember, Ruby and Weiss were having a pretty hard time lately. I think it's time to pour some oil on troubled waters. So, as promised the last time (and desperately needed at the moment), another fluffy chapter to make up for the horrible things we all had to go through. Enjoy! And this time I really mean it!

On Sunday morning, Ruby and Weiss had their talk with the rest of their team regarding the upcoming mission. At least Yang and Blake didn't have to do any persuading since the crimsonette had already agreed that they needed to find that Grimm so she could be cured. The blonde and her partner were a little surprised by this sudden change of mind (after everything Weiss had told them yesterday), but they didn't question it since it was a welcome one. The look the heiress gave them as Yang was on the brink of asking spoke volumes about the turn of events already. Something pretty bad must've happened.

Team RWBY spent the rest of the day preparing for their mission and getting supplies from the depot. Apparently, the staff members working there had already been informed about the girls' arrival. That raised one question in the heiress' mind: Had Ozpin known that they would agree to participate in this mission? However, the next day the headmaster still summoned them to his office to ask them about it again.

Of course, the four girls immediately agreed to do it and explained that they had already prepared their equipment. At this response, Professor Ozpin simply nodded. Then, he told the team that Beacon's staff, in collaboration with the Atlesian researchers and military, was still busy making the final preparations. Therefore, they would depart not until next week. This mission was going to be incredibly dangerous, after all, so it was better to be safe than sorry.

The girls politely thanked for the information and promised not to let their headmaster down, then they left his office again.

After that, the longest week in Weiss' young life began:

The following days, Ruby was pretty silent and withdrawn into herself. Everybody who knew she and Weiss were together noticed that but didn't address it. It hurt to see the usually bubbly girl that way nonetheless.

The crimsonette still participated in exchanging affections as long as her girlfriend made the first move, but she never did it herself anymore. Also, everything the young couple did lately was far more reserved than it had been a few weeks ago. They were mostly just holding hands, not even very long anymore, and if they were to kiss each other (or, to be more precise, if Weiss were to kiss Ruby), it was never on the lips, just on the cheek... at most. All the other touching, teasing and flirting between the two was gone as well.

And worst of all: Ruby had carried out her _threat_ – she and Weiss were sleeping in separate beds since the unpleasant incident. The white-haired girl didn't like the new turn of events one bit. This couldn't be good for their relationship...

* * *

It was Sunday night now, the day before their departure. The young Huntresses were lying in their respective beds already, but neither of them could find any sleep. Their new sleeping situation had taken its toll on the two girls for the last few days already:

Weiss had started to feel lonely again, even though her girlfriend was just mere feet away from her. Mere feet... but still out of reach. The days when the heiress had been enjoying her solitude from time to time were long since gone – now they only reminded her of her miserable time in Atlas... or the only slightly better time before she and Ruby had gotten together.

As for the crimsonette, she seemed to have trouble falling asleep for a different reason.

Weiss turned to her left and eyed her girlfriend's form under the covers. Ruby had turned her back to her like she had always done it these last few days. However, she looked far from relaxed as well. The heiress heard her heavy and uneven breathing and even though it was dark, she could clearly see that Ruby's body was trembling. It had been like this every night since _that_ day. Weiss also knew that it got only barely better when the crimsonette was actually asleep, but it still looked like she was suffering.

The white-haired girl rolled onto her back again and eyed the ceiling. She couldn't bear to see her Rose Petal like this any longer. She also tried to block out the younger girl's wheezing, but that was a lot harder to do. Just like the last few nights, Weiss started to get sad again... and angry. Angry with these mutated Grimm, angry with the useless doctors, and, most importantly, angry with herself because she couldn't do anything to help her girlfriend. She felt so powerless, so useless.

Her Rose Petal was lying in the bed right next to her, yet, she was too cowardly to just go over and snuggle up to her. The crimsonette wasn't any better, though – she was still afraid of herself and of what she might do again. It wasn't even certain that it would happen again. But instead of taking the risk and at least try to be happy again, to be _whole_ again, they were just lying in their separate beds, shaking, sobbing, suffering. It didn't feel like they were a couple anymore.

Ruby had lost control of herself just one time and now they couldn't even cuddle anymore? This was completely fucked up. Weiss clenched her teeth while the thought crossed her mind and her eyes started to tear up. Even if something like last week were to happen again, it would most certainly be better than their current situation. Everything would be!

This entire new sleeping arrangement was ridiculous! And finally, after seven incredibly nerve-racking and excruciating nights, Weiss had enough of it. Hadn't they promised to always be by each other's side? And hadn't Ruby always kept this promise to her until now?

They had... Ruby had, too...

Therefore, Weiss made a decision.

* * *

The younger girl's body went as stiff as a board the moment she felt someone crawling into her bed and slipping under the covers. Barely a second later, a pair of delicate arms wrapped themselves around her. A warm form was pressed into her back, a pair of lips onto the back of her neck, and the smell of vanilla filled her nostrils. The crimsonette didn't dare to move a single millimeter.

"Rose Petal...", a soft whisper suddenly reached her ears, "This _has_ to stop."

"W-what?", Ruby croaked out, still completely petrified.

"Us sleeping separately.", the white-haired girl answered, "It's been a week now and every single night it broke my heart a little more."

"B-but...", the crimsonette stammered.

"No.", Weiss interrupted her, "I know you are scared of yourself at the moment... but I'm not... anymore. No matter what happens, you will always be my Rose Petal. And I don't want to sleep without my Rose Petal."

Then, she planted another soft kiss on the back of her girlfriend's neck. This caused the crimson-haired girl to slightly relax into the embrace. Weiss repeated the action, again and again, letting her lips linger on the soft skin for a little longer every time until all the tension had left the younger girl's body.

"I love you, Ruby.", the heiress whispered tenderly as she tightened the embrace, "And I want to be close to you. No matter how hard you try to push me away because you still hate yourself for what had happened, from now on, I'll always come back to you... and there's nothing you can do about that." To emphasize her words, she buried her head into the crook of her girlfriend's neck and planted another gentle kiss there.

But then, she heard something weird. It was a sob... Ruby was crying! That was the last thing Weiss had wanted to accomplish with her actions. Maybe it had been a mistake to say or do all of this. But when the heiress wanted to loosen the embrace a little, Ruby grabbed the arms that were still wrapped around her and pressed them closer to her body.

"Rose Petal...", Weiss whispered soothingly, not really sure how to proceed from here.

"I-I don't want to hurt you again.", Ruby sobbed, barely audible, "And if I were to... b-because of my... I could never live with myself. You should leave." With these words, she let go of Weiss' arms and tried to turn away even further. However, the pair of arms around her didn't let her go.

"No, I won't.", the heiress objected unflinchingly, "And I don't care what happens if I don't. Everything is better than being separated from you again. Come what may... I love you." She kissed the crook of her girlfriend's neck again for emphasis. There was a long silence.

"C-could you still love me...", Ruby suddenly sobbed, "...even if I become..." The younger girl couldn't even finish her sentence as another sob shook her body.

Weiss knew what her girlfriend meant nonetheless. She was talking about turning into a Grimm. However, the answer to the crimson-haired girl's question was an easy one... and the heiress didn't hesitate one second to let her heart speak.

"I could...", she whispered tenderly, "But you have to let me..."

At these words, Ruby finally turned around. It hurt Weiss deeply when she saw her girlfriend's tear-strained, bloodshot eyes – even though the outer edges still had a black tint to them. But the heiress knew that this wasn't the time to get all sad herself. She needed to be there for her Rose Petal now... to comfort her and to ease her pain.

"D-do you really mean it?", the crimsonette whimpered, trying to suppress another sob.

"Every single word.", Weiss reassured her with a warm smile, "And I kind of understand how you feel at the moment, at least a little. I thought I was a monster for a long time, after all. But you didn't leave me alone until you had taught me better. Now it's my turn to do so."

"But that's not the same.", Ruby explained and turned her head to the side again, "You were just... different. I'm violent... dangerous..."

"Well, all I see at the moment is a sad and scared girl who's just afraid that she could hurt the people she loves.", the heiress responded softly, "I think that this is proof enough that you're... way too nice to be a monster." At these words, Ruby got attentive again. She had said the exact same thing to Weiss the day she had found out about her secret. Did her girlfriend really remember this?

"And I can't bear seeing you all bitter and heartbroken.", the white-haired girl continued, "I want _my_ Ruby back. You can try and continue to cloister yourself away, but it won't stop me. I will stay with you... always." The determination the crimsonette saw in her clear, blue eyes left no doubt that she meant it exactly the way she had said it. And it somehow gave Ruby the courage to believe in her as well as in herself again... if only a little.

"W-weiss...", the younger girl sobbed and finally returned the hug, hesitantly, as if she was afraid to hurt her girlfriend again. The heiress, however, pulled her as close to her body as she could the moment she felt Ruby's arms around her body. She ran her hand gently through the mess of black and red hair and took a delightful breath of rose-scented air. Oh Dust, how she had missed that...

They stayed like this for a while until the heiress pulled away a bit and rested her forehead against her girlfriend's. She noticed that Ruby's eyes were still tear-filled, but they looked relieved... and at least a little happy again... for the first time this week. And thanks to seeing this, Weiss could start being happy again as well.

Their lips met without them even thinking about it. It just happened automatically. The kiss was gentle, hesitant even, like a first one... but at the same time, it was incredibly meaningful, liberating, and, most of all, loving. It didn't need to be overly passionate or tongue-tying to be that way – the young couple realized once again that a magical moment just required each other... and nothing more.

"I love you...", Ruby whispered when they finally parted, "I know I'm horrible and frightening at the moment, but... but you came back. Every time... At the initiation, when we became partners, or when I became the leader... when I found out about your secret... and now... you've always come back. I... don't know how to ever make this up to you."

"You already did.", the heiress whispered back gently, "You're doing it every single day when I can wake up next to you and can hardly believe my luck that such a wonderful girl wanted to spend another night with me. I'm not lonely anymore, not scared of myself anymore. I only feel appreciated and, most importantly, loved when I'm with you. I'm the one who has to thank you."

With these words, she kissed the crimson-haired girl softly on the lips again. However, she didn't stop there. The heiress had somehow managed to still Ruby's fears about herself, but there was something else the younger girl was still afraid of. Weiss knew she had to take care of that as well – slowly, carefully, sure, but she had to nonetheless. And she also wanted to make her girlfriend feel good again for a change... _really good_.

'And I think I already know exactly how I can do that.', the white-haired girl thought as she continued to assault her partner's lips with her own. The hand that wasn't caressing the back of Ruby's head right now slowly and carefully (as planned) crept under her tank top until the heiress' fingertips were lying on her toned stomach. The moment the younger girl noticed it, she immediately broke the new kiss.

"W-weiss... what are you doing?!", she half-yelped, half-moaned. Even this little touch had already something electrifying to it. However, as much as the crimsonette enjoyed it, it still filled her with fear again.

"What do you think I'm doing, silly?", Weiss whispered and a warm, loving smile appeared on her face, "I'm trying to make you feel good." She wanted to continue to kiss her girlfriend, but Ruby turned her head away.

"D-do you really think this is a good idea?", the crimson-haired girl asked anxiously.

"No. This is a great idea.", the heiress responded affectionately, "And long overdue. I want us to... show our love for each other again... in every way. I want us to stop being afraid of ourselves or the other anymore. We don't have to be."

"But what if I... do something bad again? I'm still... y'know.", Ruby reminded her, worry apparent in her eyes.

"It's not like last time.", Weiss explained soothingly, "I want this, too. I want us to feel good together... to leave what had happened behind us and just be... Ruby and Weiss again. Partners, friends, lovers. A thawed Ice Queen and her adorable dolt."

Another look into the beautiful, blue eyes of her girlfriend, filled with so much love just for her, made the crimsonette's worries melt away in an instant. She hesitantly gave Weiss a nod and a small but still honest smile spread across her lips. That was everything the heiress had wanted... and everything she needed.

"And now relax, my little Rose Petal, and let me handle this.", she purred, "The first round is just for you."

* * *

The words had barely left the white-haired girl's mouth before she started to kiss her girlfriend again, this time a little more passionate. Her tongue reached out and brushed gently against Ruby's lips, carefully asking for entrance. She didn't have to wait very long, though. As soon as the crimsonette opened her mouth a bit, Weiss pushed the wet muscle inside, exploring the newly acquired space and humming appreciatively at the sweet taste of her girlfriend's saliva. A moment later, another tongue poked her own tentatively, one time, two times, like a shy person asking their crush for a dance... and there was no way Weiss could or would turn down that offer.

As the two girls continued to make out lovingly, the heiress picked up where she had left off. Agonizingly slowly, her fingertips began their ascent, taking their time to gently brush over the soft, milky skin of the younger girl's stomach in random patterns and poking into the small dip of her bellybutton from time to time. Especially the last action caused Ruby to whimper needily into her girlfriend's mouth.

Fortunately, after about a minute of this oh so sweet torture, Weiss' fingers continued to travel up the crimsonette's body until they reached the curve of her left breast. Then, without a warning, the heiress' hand lunged out and encompassed the soft flesh. The pillowy mound fit naturally, easily, perfectly, as if it had been made only for the heiress' touch. Weiss gave her lover's well-rounded boob an affectionate squeeze, which finally coaxed the first _real_ moan out of Ruby's throat.

Spurred on by this divine sound the white-haired girl hadn't heard for too long, she brushed her thumb over the crimsonette's already hardened nipple, desperately wanting to take in more of these beautiful purrs and hums of pleasure her girlfriend was starting to make. And her actions had the desired effect – the moment the digit made contact with the stiff nub, Ruby briefly broke the kiss to suck in a surprised gasp of air before mashing their lips together once more. The heiress immediately redoubled her efforts.

Kissing the younger girl hungrily, touching and squeezing her perfect body, making her squeal with delight... there were no words to describe how much Weiss had missed this. However, they were far from done yet. The white-haired girl had promised her girlfriend a night full of love and passion, after all. Therefore, she decided that it was time to step up her game a bit.

While it was nice lying by Ruby's side, it wasn't anywhere near close enough for Weiss – at least not for what she had in mind. Fortunately, that could be easily corrected. Without breaking their kissing for even a second, the heiress carefully climbed halfway on top of Ruby, placed her thigh between the younger girl's legs, and then pushed it against her girlfriend's center. The crimsonette's reaction came in an instant: again, she moaned needily into the white-haired girl's mouth, this time considerably louder, and tried to pull her even closer to her body.

"Do you like that, Rose Petal?", the heiress asked between their kisses.

"Uh-huh.", came the shaky response, accompanied by a nod, "M-more..."

Of course, Weiss was more than happy to oblige and pressed her thigh a little firmer against Ruby's groin. The heiress noticed that her girlfriend's pajama bottoms were already pretty damp at this place and she started to smile into the kiss because of that. The hand on the younger girl's boob continued to knead and caress the soft flesh eagerly while playing with the rosy peak of her nipple from time to time. Slowly but steadily, the muffled moans that echoed through the dorm room increased in volume.

Soon, Ruby started to buck her hips against her girlfriend's leg. While the heiress' touch felt amazing (as always), it wasn't enough... she needed more! She hadn't gotten intimate with her Snowflake for over a week now and all that teasing was slowly turning into torture. However, the crimsonette didn't make an attempt to speed things up herself. The last time she had done this... a shiver went down her spine at the horrible memory.

As if Weiss could read the younger girl's mind and sense her worries, her kisses and caresses immediately got a lot more gentle, a lot more loving, but not in the least less passionate. In a matter of seconds, Ruby relaxed again and let out a soft sigh that quickly turned into yet another moan as the heiress started to slowly rub her leg up and down her groin. The crimsonette's pajama bottoms were pretty much drenched by now and Weiss could feel her girlfriend's pussy throbbing with need on the bare thigh she was pressing against it.

Suddenly, the younger girl broke the kiss. At first, her partner didn't know why, but as soon as she noticed the burning desire in the crimsonette's eyes and her aroused, almost pained expression, she immediately solved the mystery. Maybe she had dragged out the foreplay a little too long.

"P-please, Weiss...", Ruby begged desperately and in a shaky voice, "I... I can't take it anymore. I need to... please make me..." Even though she didn't say the particular word, it was obvious to her girlfriend what she meant.

"Aww... You're playing unfair.", the heiress whispered softly, "You know I can't refuse these beautiful, silver eyes anything." The only response she got was that the girl underneath her bit her lower lip and squeezed the aforementioned eyes shut, accompanied by another needy moan. Weiss found it incredibly cute.

Therefore, she said affectionately: "Don't worry, Rose Petal. I have promised to make you feel good. And I won't break a promise I made to you. I never could. I love you."

"I love you too.", Ruby whispered back and opened her eyes slightly again. Then, lifted her head up a bit to give her girlfriend a soft peck on the lips. However, when she lied down again, Weiss followed her movement, not breaking contact, and the innocent peck turned into another heated make-out session shortly after.

Nevertheless, the white-haired girl still had a promise to keep, so she climbed off of her girlfriend and snuggled up to her side again. The hand that had been fondling Ruby's chest the last few minutes slowly crept down the crimsonette's body again. Weiss made sure to drag her nails over the smooth skin this time, which caused the younger girl to whimper even louder. Soon, the heiress fingers slipped under the waistband of her girlfriend's pajama bottoms and, after that, inside her panties.

Ruby's body shuddered in delight the moment she felt Weiss' hand slide over her pubic mound. She immediately spread her legs a little wider to grant her girlfriend better access to her core. When a finger suddenly slid through her wet folds, she almost lost it already.

With her index and ring finger, the white-haired girl parted the puffy lips of Ruby's pussy a bit, while the middle gently moved up and down between them. The palm of her hand simultaneously started to rub over the crimsonette's hard clit in slow circles, adding even more pleasure to Ruby's overloaded brain. The lewd sounds that escaped the younger girl's throat now were music to Weiss' ears and every jerk and shudder her body made caused the heiress' smile to grow wider.

Ruby's mind was completely blank by now. Thinking was impossible, not to mention speaking. But it wasn't necessary anyway. Nothing else existed but the divine sensation of her girlfriend's touch. As soon as the crimsonette finally felt Weiss' middle finger entering her, she was no longer able to make out with her anymore. Every last bit of brain capacity she had left was desperately needed for breathing (more like gasping) and, of course, moaning... sometimes even making a noise that vaguely sounded like the white-haired girl's name.

Since the crimsonette was incredibly wet, practically gushing, the heiress' finger slid into her quite easily. But, damn, it was still ridiculously tight inside. Once again, Weiss wondered how it was even possible to fit her dick inside this burning hot, silken vice while slowly pushing the digit deeper. As Ruby broke their kiss and threw her head back, the heiress moved her lips to her neck instead and showered its soft skin with attention. A moment later, she was buried to the knuckle inside her girlfriend, whose eyes slowly started to roll into the back of her head. Then, Weiss started to move her finger.

Right now, Ruby's entire world was this exact finger, thrusting in and out of her, curling and twisting inside her velvety tunnel, hitting all the right spots; as well as the palm that was rubbing her clit and made the sensitive bundle of nerves buzz with tremendous pleasure. Weiss' movements got faster and faster by the second and the crimson-haired girl got closer and closer to climax. The sensations were almost painful in intensity, almost too much to bear... Then, without a warning, the heiress added another finger, shoving it as deep as the first one into the wet, silky folds...

...and every nerve in Ruby's body exploded.

The intense orgasm that rocked through her core caused the younger girl's form to spasm uncontrollably – however, she still somehow managed to buck her hips against her girlfriend's hand unconsciously. Her back was arching, her toes were curling, and her hands were clawing into the heiress' nightgown with all the strength that hadn't left her body by now. A moment later, the tearing of fabric could be heard, but it didn't reach the crimsonette's ear – nothing did at the moment. Nothing else existed right now but this unbelievable pleasure... and the thought of the girl who had caused it.

"WEEEIII...", Ruby managed to scream, then, her voice failed her completely.

The white-haired girl continued to pump her fingers in and out of her lover's quivering pussy, prolonging her orgasm, while still nibbling on the soft skin of her neck affectionately. She didn't mind what had happened to her nightgown, not in the slightest. Heck, she would tear her complete wardrobe to shreds herself if it would cause her adorable Rose Petal to give her a smile.

A simple nightgown was a small sacrifice in exchange for the spectacle that unfolded before her eyes and the sweet symphony of gasps and moans only meant for her.

After about a minute, Ruby finally relaxed back into the mattress, breathing heavily. Weiss finally pulled her now soaking wet fingers out of her girlfriend and gently massaged her still pulsing and throbbing flower. The crimson-haired girl let out an appreciative hum while she basked in the afterglow of her climax, slowly finding her way back to reality. Her breathing started to become more even and the shuddering subsided gradually. After another few minutes, she even found her voice back.

* * *

"That was... amazing...", was everything she could gasp out, though.

"I'm glad you liked it.", Weiss whispered gently and pressed her lips to Ruby's neck one last time, then, she simply snuggled up to her girlfriend.

The young couple continued to cuddle for a while until the crimsonette had regained all of her senses completely. However, this had its pros _and_ cons because suddenly the younger girl noticed the tattered gown that hung from her girlfriend's shoulders. She immediately recognized this as her doing. Had she gone too far again?

"Oh my gosh... I'm so sorry about your nightgown.", Ruby said, her voice full of regret and sorrow, "I-I didn't mean to... I-I was..." But much to her surprise, her rambling was quickly silenced by a soft kiss.

"Don't mention this old thing...", Weiss responded afterwards, a soft smile on her face, "The feeling of you holding me so tight, the beautiful noises you made... totally worth it. No need to apologize."

"R-really?", the crimson-haired girl asked hesitantly.

"Really.", Weiss reassured her again, "Also, they were times when you teased me too much I was on the brink of just ripping your panties from your body, too... so I can relate a bit." She chuckled a little at the last part. That didn't make it less true, though.

Suddenly, Ruby asked her an odd question: "So, umm, what about you?"

"What's with me?", the heiress responded confused.

With her eyes, the crimson-haired girl pointed downwards and Weiss' icy blue orbs followed her girlfriend's gaze. It was now that the heiress noticed she was sporting a huge erection and was unconsciously pressing it to the younger girl's side. Apparently, everything they had done had aroused her as well to a great extent, even though she hadn't realized it... until now.

"You've said the first round is just for me. Now's round two, sooo...", the younger girl said, waiting for a reaction from her girlfriend.

"You don't have to if you don't want to.", Weiss responded, smiling again, "The only thing I wanted was to see you happy again. And I think I did a pretty decent job."

"But I want to make you feel good, too.", Ruby explained, "After everything I've put you through..."

"Shhhh...", Weiss immediately hushed and gently put a finger on her girlfriend's lips, " _You_ haven't put me through anything."

"Okay, let me rephrase that.", the crimsonette corrected herself, "I want to thank you. For... well, for everything. For coming back. I want to love you again... in _that_ way. I want us to be _whole_ again."

"How could I turn down such a cute offer?", the heiress asked gently and pulled her girlfriend into another kiss shortly after. This had a practical reason as well: Knowing Ruby, the girl would've probably tried to answer this rhetorical question somehow – and that would waste precious time they could use to do... other things.

Weiss pressed her body firmer into her girlfriend's side and soon, they were making out passionately again. Their tongues met and started to dance around each other while their hands roamed over the other's body. They continued this for some time while undressing one another gradually until they were completely naked.

Then, suddenly, the heiress pulled Ruby on top of her, trapping her hard member between their bodies. The feeling of hot, bare skin surrounding it caused it to throb with need. At the unforeseen change of position, the crimsonette let out a small and surprised yelp.

"You take the lead this time.", Weiss explained her actions. Of course, there was a reason why she let Ruby be in control: The younger girl needed to overcome her fears. Fear was poison to her mind.

"B-but what if...", Ruby stammered but was quickly interrupted.

"Shhhh...", Weiss silenced her girlfriend again, "I trust you. Always remember that."

"O-okay...", the younger girl breathed, then she started to kiss the heiress again. Weiss immediately returned the kiss and pulled the crimsonette even closer. The pressure on her dick grew at this and the organ twitched with anticipation in the process. Ruby began to nibble at her girlfriend's upper lip and pushed her tongue into her mouth shortly after. This time, it was the white-haired girl's turn to moan into her partner's mouth.

After some time, the crimsonette broke away from Weiss' lips and started to trail a path of kisses down the heiress' cheek and over her jawline, until she reached her neck. The rest of Ruby's body wasn't staying idle, either: Slowly, teasingly, she ground her womanhood up and down her girlfriend's length, covering it in her juices and coaxing another couple of moans out of the heiress' throat. The silky folds were incredibly wet, but Weiss had no idea if it was still from the previous fingering or due to the crimsonette's newly-sparked arousal. Not that it mattered anyway.

Ruby buried her head into the crook of Weiss' neck and started to plaster it with a couple of lingering kisses. Then, she pressed her lips against the soft skin and sucked on it, probably not strong enough to leave a hickey, but strong enough to cause the heiress to gasp.

However, the crimson-haired girl didn't leave it at that. Something inside of her suddenly seemed to try to revolt... as if it had waited to ruin this exact moment.

The next suck was considerably harder – this time, there was no way it wouldn't leave a mark. The crimsonette noticed that her mind started to become fuzzy... and emptier... but there was nothing she could do about it. Her hands pushed Weiss into the mattress, not very gentle, on top that. A low growl escaped her throat as her actions became even more aggressive and the noise scared Ruby to her very core. However, she couldn't control her body.

But... wasn't there still a soft voice in the back of her head?

Weiss noticed the sudden, slightly frightening shift in her girlfriend's mood, but she didn't do anything this time. She had told Ruby that she trusted her, after all. And the heiress' believed in her Rose Petal. She tried her best to relax, but the moment the younger girl's teeth roughly scraped over her flesh, the heiress' body tensed up and a shiver ran down her spine. She squeezed her eyes shut.

This couldn't be happening again! Not now! Not after they had come so far...

But then, a few seconds later, something odd happened.

"No.", Ruby whispered, apparently to herself, "I won't let you hurt my Snowflake ever again." The teeth that were grazing the heiress' skin suddenly got a lot gentler while the crimsonette continued to kiss her neck... and after a while, Weiss couldn't feel them anymore.

'I trust you. Always remember that.', these soft words repeated itself in Ruby's head over and over again. The white-haired girl belonged to her, not to some weird Grimm stuff that was messing with her mind and body. It was her duty to protect her precious Snowflake, even from herself. She had to be strong... for Weiss!

With one last kiss to her girlfriend's collarbone, Ruby suddenly pulled her head up and faced the white-haired girl, then she whispered: "I love her and I won't let whatever's in there take her away from me."

When Weiss opened her eyes again, she was met with the two biggest, brightest pools of silver she had ever seen. They were still dark at the outer edges, but something was different now. The heiress immediately noticed that, for whatever reason, the sparkle in her girlfriend's eyes had returned... the beautiful sparkle she had fallen in love with.

This was _her Rose Petal_ again... completely. There  was no doubt about it.

"I will _never_ hurt you again, Snowflake.", Ruby said, her voice full of love and care, and a determination lied underneath that even a God's command paled in comparison, "I promise."

"R-ruby...", Weiss whispered relieved and a tear of emotion came to her eyes.

Then, everything happened too fast for the girls to even question a single thing.

* * *

The white-haired girl immediately pulled her lover down to her, mashing their lips together, and Ruby was eager to participate in this kind of activity. The crimsonette soon forced her tongue into her girlfriend's mouth again, not overly aggressive, but with a passion she (and Weiss) hadn't felt for a long time. The moment the heiress noticed this, she let out a happy squeal while wrapping her own tongue around the intruder.

It was now that Ruby felt the erection trapped between her bodies throb with need and desire. Weiss was harder than ever and, considering the noticeable puddle sticking to their stomachs, already leaking pre-cum. The white-haired girl wasn't scared of her anymore, no, she was aroused by her – she wanted, no, needed this... needed _her_. Now it was Ruby's turn to squeal happily into her girlfriend's mouth as she continued to make out with her.

How much time was passing? Minutes, hours, days? The younger girl didn't know. She didn't care, either. She finally felt that she was back in control, that she could finally repay Weiss for all the love (and other things) the white-haired girl had given her this night... the night she had saved her from herself.

And Ruby knew exactly where to start...

Slowly, the crimsonette crawled up her Snowflake's body, making sure to drag her trembling pussy along the throbbing shaft, lubricating it even further – not that this was necessary. Unfortunately, she had to break the kiss to do so since the heiress' member was anything but little. Weiss let out an annoyed whimper the moment their lips separated and put her hands on the younger girl's thighs, trying to push her down again. But the moment she figured out what her girlfriend had in mind, she immediately fell silent and ceased her actions.

The tip of her dick was resting between Ruby's lower lips now, twitching in anticipation and releasing another huge glob of pre-cum. The scorching heat that radiated from the crimsonette's flower was almost too much to bear for Weiss already. And she hadn't even penetrated her yet! However, this was about to change soon.

Ruby reached between her legs, grabbed the huge package and guided it to her waiting entrance. She couldn't take it any longer – she needed this big thing inside of her right now! As always, it took a little effort to make that happen, but the crimson-haired girl remained stubborn – she just pushed herself harder and harder onto the cock. Her lower lips were stretched apart and, finally, her slippery tunnel had no other choice but to accept the intruder.

"Oh my gosh! Oh, I've missed that so much!", Ruby whimpered in delight as soon as she felt her girlfriend's enormous member spread her open, "D-did you miss my pussy too, Snowflake?"

She didn't get a response, though... and the moment she looked down she found out why: Weiss had squeezed her eyes shut again and was biting her lower lip hard enough that her Aura flared up a little. The terrific sensation of her girlfriend's silken insides wrapped around her cock set every nerve of her body on fire. She hadn't cum in so long! She needed release! And at the same time, she wanted to make this moment last as long as possible. It took her every bit of willpower not to blow her load right on the spot while her fingers clawed into Ruby's thighs.

However, this first little victory over her urges was nothing compared to what came next. The moan that escaped the heiress' lips as her girlfriend continued to impale herself on the shaft was probably loud enough to be heard even in the hallway despite the room's soundproofing. The moment the sound reached Ruby's ears, her face contorted into something between a beaming smile and a pleasured grimace. Soon, an all-too-familiar bulge appeared on her stomach which slowly traveled higher and became more distinct the further the younger girl slid down the throbbing cock.

Only when the tip of Weiss' dick kissed her cervix, Ruby stopped her descent. The heiress was breathing heavily by now, 'Don't cum yet!' the only thing on her mind. That the crimsonette's hot and wet tunnel was massaging her dick in the rhythm of her hammering heartbeat didn't help the heiress' situation at all. Fortunately, Ruby seemed to notice her girlfriend's struggles, so she stayed in place and waited until the white-haired girl had calmed down a bit. Also, some time for her to get used to the large intruder again was pretty welcome as well.

After a while, Weiss' breathing became (somewhat) regular again and she had gotten (again, somewhat) used to the contractions of the younger girl's insides. The moment Ruby noticed this, she started to slowly gyrate her hips, nudging her girlfriend's dick against her cervix a little firmer.

"Y-you wanna g-go de-eper?", the crimsonette asked while continuing her movements. Speaking would've been so much easier if she would've stayed in place, she realized after the shaky words had left her mouth.

"N-no thanks.", Weiss simply responded, her voice trembling as well, "I think I'll c-cum right away if you... y'know."

"You mean _letting you f-fuck my womb_?", Ruby said teasingly, which caused the heiress as well as herself to blush furiously and a familiar heat started to pool in the younger girl's stomach. She made another mental note: Dirty talk backfires.

"E-exactly.", Weiss admitted and sheepishly turned to the side, "And please don't say it like that..." At this, Ruby stopped her hips.

"Aww... You're so cute when you're all embarrassed.", the crimsonette whispered tenderly, leaned down and kissed her Snowflake softly on the lips.

"And you're so cute no matter what you do.", the heiress whispered back after they had parted, then, her eyes fell on the bulge on her girlfriend's belly, "I'm pretty deep already. Are you alright?"

"Better. I'm whole again. _We_... are whole again.", Ruby answered and brought their lips together once more, "I'm starting to move now, okay?"

"Yes, please.", Weiss breathed out needily which caused the younger girl to smile – one of her happy, beaming Ruby-smiles again. The whole last week the heiress would've died for seeing it again.

Slowly, Ruby straightened herself and started to lift herself up a few inches, before sinking down until the heiress' cock nudged the entrance to her womb again. Both girls drew in a sharp breath at the sensation. The crimsonette rose again, this time until only the tip of her girlfriend's rock-hard member remained inside of her, then, she pushed herself down again. Before the young couple knew it, Ruby had established a steady rhythm, alternating between long and short thrusts.

Soon, the dorm room was filled with pleasured gasps and moans again. The younger girl's movements slowly got faster while Weiss started to buck her hips against her, matching her girlfriend's rhythm. From time to time, the crimsonette dove down to capture the heiress' lips in heated kisses, before she broke away and sat up again to put more strength into her thrusts.

Ruby's gaze went down to the bulge that dis- and reappeared on her belly according to how deep her girlfriend was buried inside her at the moment. She briefly considered touching or massaging it to add to Weiss' pleasure, but then decided against it. If she would do this now, her girlfriend would probably cum immediately. At least the heiress' had told her this much every time she had tried it in the past.

Therefore, she just continued to ride the white-haired girl, dragging her sensitive insides along the massive member inside of her and using her internal muscles to squeeze it from time to time. Weiss was throbbing forcefully and practically gushed pre-cum, slickening the tight passage even further, if that was possible. The younger girl felt her pussy quivering and trembling with need as well as she sped up her movements more and more. Both girls didn't know how much time was passing while they basked in the feeling of the other's closeness.

By the time they were about to climax, Ruby was bouncing up and down her girlfriend's length like a spring and Weiss was sure that, if it wasn't for the younger girl's incredible wetness, the friction would most certainly sear them by now. Their movements got more erratic and their breaths became ragged. As much as they wanted to enjoy themselves a little longer, it was about to come to end.

Weiss was seeing stars. Grinding along Ruby's velvety inner walls, the rhythmical contractions of her insides, constantly hitting her cervix, the sight of her naked form, her bouncing breasts, the cute moans, the heated kisses... everything soon became too much for the white-haired girl. She desperately tried to hang on, to delay her orgasm, but she couldn't anymore. Her giant member swelled and started to twitch furiously as she faced the inevitable.

Of course, everything that was going on inside of her didn't go unnoticed by Ruby. She knew her Snowflake would cum any second now and she wasn't that far behind herself. Therefore, she changed her strategy.

Without a warning, the crimsonette slammed her hips into Weiss' groin as hard as she could. The force of the impact caused the heiress' dick to break through her vice-like cervix and slam into the back of her tiny womb. Being so thoroughly filled and stretched again almost made Ruby cum herself, but she wanted to get Weiss off first. And while this final thrust was probably enough to accomplish this already, the younger girl still wanted to try something different.

Channeling the last bit of self-control she had, Ruby dragged the fingertips of one of her hands along the now _very_ prominent bulge on her belly. She could barely believe it sometimes: All of this was Weiss, inside of her, pulsing, twitching... When her hand finally reached the top, Ruby gave the tip of her girlfriend's cock a firm, yet affectionate squeeze, massaging it through her skin.

Weiss exploded instantly.

"Ruby! C-cumming!!!", the heiress managed to yell before her brain shut down completely. She arched her back, trying to somehow bury herself even deeper into her girlfriend, even though that wasn't possible. Then, the floodgates broke.

As the first massive spurt of the scalding hot essence hit the back of Ruby's womb, the younger girl lost it as well. Crying out her girlfriend's name in bliss, her body started to spasm uncontrollably while her insides squeezed the large member for all it was worth. Her cervix gripped the shaft even tighter as if trying to prevent Weiss from filling up her baby chamber... not that it worked in the slightest.

The white-haired girl continued to jerk into her girlfriend while wave after huge wave of cum was pumped into the crimsonette, filling every nook and cranny of her uterus. As always, the fierce grip of Ruby's cervix, as well as the heiress' girth, prevented a single drop from escaping. Soon, the tiny organ was already filled to the brim... but Weiss wasn't even halfway done yet. Spurt upon spurt continued to force its way inside the younger girl and her smooth stomach started to inflate... quickly.

More and more spunk was squeezed through Weiss' dick and into Ruby's waiting womb, which accepted every burst greedily. The load was considerably larger this time due to the fact that the heiress hadn't relieved herself the whole week – and weren't both girls completely in their own, blissful worlds right now, they would notice that Ruby's belly swelled a little larger than usual, her body utterly overstuffed with the heiress' thick, hot cum.

After about half a minute, their orgasms finally subsided. The contractions of the younger girl's insides became weaker and less frequent while the spurts of Weiss' cock slowly turned into small trickles before they ceased completely. It was then that the last bit of strength left Ruby's body and she collapsed onto her girlfriend.

"That... you... wow...", Weiss rasped incoherently when she had found her voice back – about a whole five minutes later. She somehow managed to wrap her arms around her girlfriend's naked body again, though.

"Uh-huh...", Ruby agreed with a weak nod, still not able to form complete words.

"It felt amazing.", the heiress whispered softly, "You are amazing."

"Uh-huh...", Ruby repeated herself and slowly wriggled her head into the crook of her girlfriend's neck. She was exhausted... happy, yeah, but utterly exhausted.

Weiss simply assumed that the younger girl's gesture meant something like "You, too." and gently ran one of her hands up and down Ruby's back. After everything that had happened, they had earned a little rest. Weiss gaze fell onto her girlfriend's peaceful face: the messy head of crimson hair, the half-lidded eyes that slowly started to fall shut, the small smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth – in the heiress' opinion, this was without a doubt the most beautiful creature in all of Remnant.

Exhaustion soon got the better of both girls. The crimsonette was the first to submit to it. Her eyes were almost closed by now and she was on the brink of losing consciousness already. But not before...

"I love you, Snowflake.", Ruby managed to whisper before finally drifting into sleep.

"I love you too, Rose Petal.", Weiss whispered back and kissed the top of her girlfriend's head tenderly.

And before Ruby's eyes fell completely shut, the white-haired girl almost thought she could see their black tint starting to fade a little bit.

* * *

The next morning, Weiss didn't awake to the beeping of her Scroll but to something tickling her neck. With a soft groan, she lazily opened one of her blue eyes and took a look at the device lying on the nightstand. It was still an hour before the alarm would sound.

The tickling sensation suddenly reoccurred and Weiss recognized it as a pair of lips tracing over her skin. A look to her other side confirmed this: A mop of messy black and red hair came into view and the head it belonged to was cuddled into her neck.

"Hngh... Rose Petal?", the heiress groaned sleepily, "What are you doing? It's still early."

"Sorry... I couldn't resist when I woke up...", came Ruby's response, muffled by her girlfriend's neck, "I'm just so happy that I have my Snowflake back."

"Just as promised: I'll always come back to you.", Weiss replied tenderly and kissed the top of the younger girl's head, "But now go back to sleep. Tomorrow... well, today is going to be tough."

"Can't...", the crimsonette simply said and pressed her lips to the heiress' soft skin once more, "Want to enjoy this a little longer..."

"Fine, you little cuddle bear.", the white-haired girl sighed, yet, she couldn't suppress a smile spreading across her face, "But I hope you don't mind that I catch another snatch of sleep."

"You taste amazing...", Ruby whispered softly, barely listening to her bedmate as she continued to kiss her neck, "A little salty, though..."

'Apparently, she's in her own little world at the moment...', Weiss pondered, her smile growing a bit wider, 'Well, we still have an hour until we have to get ready. Might as well enjoy it, too. I guess sleeping isn't an option anymore anyway.'

With this in mind, she grabbed her girlfriend by the chin and tilted her head up, then she pressed her lips softly onto Ruby's. The crimsonette immediately slipped her tongue inside Weiss' mouth, not overly demanding but still eager to deepen the kiss the moment it had started. However, both girls were still pretty sleepy, so they just snuggled closer together and started to make out lazily, nothing more. Not that it wasn't utterly pleasant – quite the contrary.

The heiress knew that they had to cherish this moment. They most certainly won't have time for something like this for a while, after all. In a few hours, they would be on their way to attend their mission.

'In a few hours, we're going to save you, Ruby!', Weiss thought determined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww... they're happy again. If you think that everything is going to be okay from now on... guess again. But at least this chapter has proven Ozpin's theory right that negative emotions worsen Ruby's condition while love and care help her to fight against it.
> 
> About the pacing of this chapter: I know the sex scene seems a little sudden after they had just made up and everything, but think of it as trying, dunno, an exercise and failing miserably, hurting yourself. If you don't try it again soon after, your fear will only grow further to the point you can't even give it a try anymore. So the sooner you overcome your fear, the less time it has to grow into something you can't deal with anymore. I don't know if that makes sense in this context. It was something my capoeira trainer had told me one time after I had made a bad crash landing while trying to learn a backflip.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that it made up for the horrible last one. Ruby and Weiss are, well, Ruby AND Weiss again. However, while this may help to keep the younger girl in check, it won't solve the problem in the long run. They still need to find a cure – and that means going back to the lion's den.
> 
> Let me know what you think about this chapter in the comments and stay tuned for the next one. Things are going to get adventurous again. But don't worry, I'll try to include a little more fluff (and maybe even sexy times) this time. See ya later, folks!


	33. Returning to Nave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quicker update, shorter chapter... everything has its pros and cons. More of a setup chapter than anything else, but hey: Sometimes you need these as well. I hope you still enjoy it!

The extra hour the young couple spent with cuddling and making out flew by way too fast. Barely a second after the alarm of Weiss' Scroll sounded, the heiress groaned into her girlfriend's mouth annoyedly and broke the kiss. Ruby, for her part, tried to pull her back but was quickly stopped to do so by the white-haired girl – gentle, yet determined. They needed to get ready, after all. This mission was immensely important... probably the most important one they were to attend to so far.

After the two girls were through their morning routines, they shouldered their backpacks and went to meet up with Blake and Yang. Once at their old dorm room, the young couple found their teammates already waiting for them... and they looked at least as sleepy. The team exchanged a few quick greetings, then they took off to the gym's locker room to retrieve their weapons. The walk was done in silence; nobody was in the mood for conversing at the moment. Things were about to get tough soon, after all.

The four girls checked their equipment one last time before they made their way to the airship docks. It was now that Yang and Blake noticed that Ruby and Weiss were holding hands all the time again. And despite the serious expressions on the couple's faces, there were still two tiny, but still noticeable smiles lying underneath.

The airship that picked them up to fly them to the village this time was in a considerably better condition than the one Ruby and Weiss had to take on their first visit. The young couple sighed with relief.

* * *

On the flight to the village, the four girls slowly livened up. Well, everyone besides Ruby, that is. The young girl was currently catching up on the sleep she hadn't gotten the whole last week because of her condition and the tension that had remained between her and Weiss. But since the latter no longer existed she was finally able to find some rest again. Her team didn't mind one bit – their leader would need every grain of energy, after all... they all would.

Ruby's body slowly slumped to the side until her head was resting on her girlfriend's shoulder. And, as if she even knew in her sleep who it was she was using as a make-shift pillow, she immediately buried her face into the crook of Weiss' neck. Then, she let out a gentle, happy sigh before she continued to snore softly. The moment the heiress felt her girlfriend's hair tickling the side of her face, she leaned in as well and a warm smile accompanied by a faint blush appeared on her cheeks.

"I can't believe I'm actually saying this...", Yang said quietly upon seeing her sister's actions and the white-haired girl's reaction, "But after last week I'm really, _really_ glad that you guys are all lovey-dovey again."

"Me too.", Blake seconded.

"Me three.", Weiss said and kissed the top of Ruby's head, careful not to wake her up, "You have no idea how happy I am to have my Rose Petal back."

"I can imagine.", the Faunus replied with a friendly smile, "And I kinda can relate. It just felt... wrong not to see you two all over each other these past days."

"But how did you manage to revert Ruby back into her cute, cuddly self?", Yang suddenly asked, "It's not that I'm not incredibly grateful and happy that she isn't cold and withdrawn anymore. Just curious, y'know. Maybe there's something even Blake and I can do to prevent this behavior from happening again."

"I don't really know... I was just... there for her.", the heiress answered, "Well, last night, Ruby and I were still sleeping in separate beds, like the whole last week. And suddenly, I decided I had enough of it. So I went over to her, cuddling with her again, and told her that I will always love her, no matter what was going to happen. I comforted her when she cried and after she had calmed down, she told me that she felt better. We kissed and made up and... yeah, that's about it."

However, the moment the memory of last night came back to her mind, Weiss started to blush even deeper and she started to feel a tingling sensation between her legs. Of course, this didn't go unnoticed by her teammates... just the blush, fortunately.

"You guys banged yesterday again, am I right?", Yang asked and raised her eyebrows.

The blunt question caused the heiress' blush to deepen even more. However, she was friends with Yang long enough to know how to handle the situation. The days when such a comment would or could embarrass her and make her stutter were long since gone.

"Are you _really_ sure you want to know that?", Weiss replied with a smug grin.

"You already answered it for me.", Yang grumbled and rolled her eyes, "But as long as you can keep Ruby happy, do whatever you have to do. Just... don't let me know about it."

"In Weiss' defense, you were the one who had asked.", Blake noted and playfully nudged her partner with her elbow.

"I know...", the blonde sighed, "And I don't even know why I keep doing this. Every time the topic comes up, it's like I have these weird, obsessive thoughts in my mind and I can't get rid of them."

"And they're turning you on?", the Faunus asked with a mischievous grin.

"Eww, gross!", Yang exclaimed and turned away disgustedly.

"She makes this so easy.", the black-haired girl said to Weiss and her grin grew even wider.

"I know, right?", the heiress replied and chuckled a little.

"You guys are horrible. You know that, don't you?", Yang groaned and crossed her arms in annoyance.

"Hngh... cookies...", came a soft mumble from a sleeping Ruby.

Soon, they arrived at their destination.

* * *

However, when team RWBY exited the airship, Ruby and Weiss were met with a weird sight – this place didn't look like the sleepy little village they knew anymore... at all! The buildings, especially those near the palisade, looked a lot more battered than the last time, there were cracks and holes in the paved main road, the shops were rundown, some of them even closed – in short: it was pretty awful to look at. Weiss addressed it first.

"Oh my gosh!", she gasped in shock, "What the hell had happened here?!"

"Make a guess...", came a grumbling voice from behind them.

When the four girls turned around, there was a towering man standing behind him. His spiky, black hair was pretty messy, his goatee unkempt, and under his dark-grey eyes were even darker circles. The clothes he wore had seen better days as well; it was definitely not the first day, or week, he had put them on without properly washing them in between times. The left sleeve of his black duster coat was hitched up, revealing a bandaged hand and upper arm.

Ruby and Weiss recognized him immediately.

"Ash! Your arm! Are you alright?", the crimsonette asked the moment she noticed the gauze.

"This?! Jus' a scratch... well, burn.", the old Ex-Huntsman muttered in his gravelly voice, "Ya teammates?" He nodded curtly in the other girls' direction.

"Yup.", Ruby confirmed, "Yang, Blake. This is Ash. He's the guard captain of Nave."

"Yang Xiao Long. Nice to meet you, sir.", the blonde immediately said and offered a handshake. However, when the black-haired man took the offered hand, Yang was pretty stunned by his incredibly firm grip – and he was most certainly trying to hold back to a great extent already. She suddenly had the odd desire to arm wrestle him – this guy would definitely be a worthy opponent, unlike the guys at Beacon.

"The same goes for me.", the Faunus seconded politely and put out her hand as well, "Blake Belladonna." In the corner of her eye, Yang noticed that Ash was a lot more careful when he shook the hand than when he had shaken hers. The blonde considered it a compliment not to be treated like a delicate flower, though.

"Pleasure's all mine, girls.", the guard captain responded, "Name's Ash Ivory. Just Ash'll do. And I don't wanna hear this _sir_ bullshit ever again, got it?" Even though his deep voice was pretty intimidating, the comradely smile on his hard face made it obvious that he meant it in a friendly way.

"Okay, now that we're all acquainted with each other...", Weiss suddenly piped up, addressing the Ex-Huntsman, "Can you please tell us what had happened here? This place is a wreck." At this question, Ash let out an annoyed groan. This was by far the last topic he wanted to talk about... but he knew he had to.

"Whaddya think had happened? These mutated bastards attacked us over and over again... even more so since you two'd left about a month ago. Creeps, Beowolves, even an Ursa one day.", he explained grumpily.

But then, he suddenly turned to the crimson-haired girl and his voice got a lot softer: "By the way, heard from Ozpin what _really_ happened to you, Ruby. Y'know, the thing with the Death Stalker monstrosity. My sincerest condolences. That must suck pretty hard."

" _Sucks pretty hard_ describes it accurately.", Ruby responded with a lopsided smile, "But we're here to do something about that, after all. And save this village simultaneously."

Upon hearing this, Weiss couldn't help but smile as well, a loving smile directed at her Rose Petal. After everything that had happened the last week, it was relieving to see that the younger girl was her usual, optimistic self again. Ash also seemed to be pleased with the response he had gotten.

"Good to see ya haven't lost your fighting spirit.", he said with a grin, but then he added more seriously, "You're gonna need every bit of that out in the field, after all. We all do. Gonna be a tough job getting to the bottom of these mutant Grimm's origin... or even capture one of those freaks."

"Well, we're armed and ready!", Yang exclaimed, full of zest for action, "So what do we do now?"

"At the moment: playing pocket pool... well, twiddling thumbs in your case.", the guard captain responded in an annoyed tone, "The arrival of the Atlesian knights we're supposed to receive is going to be delayed until tomorrow. And like hell will I jump into the fray without a little backup, even though it's just machines. It won't be of any use if we find a clue about these mutant Grimm when we return in a body bag."

Even though this was pretty devastating news, the four girls had to admit that Ash had a point.

"Sorry for the inconvenience.", the Ex-Huntsman apologized, "Got the message this morning and tried to contact Beacon, but you guys were already on ya way. But cheer up! Maybe we get ambushed today so kitty and blondie here can gather a little combat experience against these purple bastards." He said the last part with a hint of sarcasm.

At Ash's remark, Yang started to chuckle a little nervously. Even though she was always one for action, she knew that the mutated Grimm were anything but harmless.

Blake only looked confused. How did this man find out that she was a Faunus _that_ fast? She was wearing her bow, after all.

"Nevertheless, until that happens, there's pretty much nothing you can do here for now besides trying to kill some time with whatever.", the guard captain continued, "The rooms at the inn are at ya free disposal. There're not many visitors around these days. If you need anything from me, feel free to ask. I'm at the guardhouse, doing paperwork and other boring stuff... maybe making a call or two to yell at the people who fucked this delivery up."

The four girls thanked Ash for the information he had given them, then they left for the inn to drop their backpacks while the guard captain returned to his office. Team RWBY made sure to keep their weapons at hand all the time in case the village was attacked by any Grimm, mutated or not. This place wasn't anywhere near safe at the moment.

However, after they left the inn again, nobody had an idea what to do now. Obviously, the mission wouldn't start until tomorrow when the Atlesian knights had arrived. To kill some time, Ruby decided to go to the blacksmith to tinker a little with Crescent Rose (only minor stuff – the scythe had to be ready all the time, after all), Yang and Blake wanted to explore the town since it was their first visit, and Weiss simply went for a walk to clear her mind off stuff... mostly worries for Ruby, but she bewared of telling her teammates that. Especially the crimsonette didn't need any more negativity.

* * *

In the late afternoon, Ruby was done tinkering with her weapon – she had made a routine check-up as well as minor adjustments to the scope Weiss had gifted her and which she held so dearly. After she had made sure Crescent Rose was functioning properly again, she cleaned up her workbench and put the tools she had used away. Then, she started to wander aimlessly through the town.

About half an hour later, she found herself sitting at the cliffside near the landing field. The screaming of the seagulls and the sound of the waves crashing against the cliff were incredibly relaxing. Of course, the younger girl had texted her teammates where she had gone in case they were looking for her. The last thing she needed was someone worrying about her... well, someone else than herself, that is.

The last few hours the crimsonette had been grimly reminded why they were here in the first place: They had to find a cure for this stuff in her body... which had started to act up again. Her head was hurting and she felt light vertigo. She also heard a murmur in the back of her mind that almost sounded like a whisper, even though she couldn't make out any distinct words.

Of course, she had herself under control – getting all corrupted again was not an option! She owed her team that much, especially Weiss. The thought of the white-haired girl lessened the headache's intensity a bit and it seemed that the whispering was getting quieter, too. Yet, it was still there and it was annoying... and a little frightening as well.

"Hey there, Rose Petal.", a soft voice suddenly addressed the younger girl, "I thought you may want some company." As if Weiss could've sensed her worries, she appeared next to her, a gentle smile on her face.

"Gladly.", Ruby responded, still deep in thought.

"Is something the matter?", the heiress asked a little worried and sat down next to her girlfriend, "You look concerned."

"It's this Grimm stuff.", the crimsonette answered, "It's... back."

"What do you mean?", Weiss asked confused. Ruby looked anything but feral or Grimm-like, unlike the last time when she had tried to... The heiress pushed the unpleasant memory out of her mind.

"For a few hours now, I have a weird headache and it almost seems like I'm hearing voices.", Ruby explained, "I don't understand them but they sound anything but friendly. There are also pictures flashing up in my mind from time to time, about the stuff I've killed on my latest missions and such. I mean, what other things than this Grimm infection can cause something like that?"

"Oh, my poor Rose Petal.", Weiss whispered soothingly and started to caress the younger girl's back, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I don't want to worry you guys.", the crimsonette explained further, "There isn't much any of you can do about this anyway. No need to be afraid, though. I'm pretty sure I have it under control now, even though this headache is pretty annoying. But still... sometimes I have the feeling my condition is getting worse. Slowly, but..."

Now that was unpleasant to hear. Of course, Weiss was glad that her girlfriend had herself under control but seeing the younger girl all sad again stung her heart. And as long as they hadn't found a cure, there really wasn't anything she could do at the moment...

But at least the heiress knew how to deal with Ruby's low spirits. She had done this yesterday already, after all, and she was pretty confident that she had done a decent job. Since Grimm were attracted to negative emotions, she just had to counter with a few positive ones.

Therefore, Weiss asked affectionately: "Shall I kiss it better? This had kinda worked the last time." But the response she got caught her completely off guard.

"We can't do _that_ here, out in the open, Snowflake.", Ruby noted, trying to sound shocked and obviously referring to everything else that had happened yesterday. However, the teasing grin that tugged at the corner of her lips made it obvious that she had _misunderstood_ it intentionally.

"T-that's not what I meant.", the heiress immediately clarified and a blush crept to her cheeks. But then she noticed her girlfriend's grin, amused by her embarrassment, and she immediately decided to turn the tables. It was nice to know that the younger girl was still cheery enough to make such a joke, though.

"But if you think it would help you, I won't hesitate one second.", Weiss said determined, catching the crimsonette completely by surprise now. She even started shedding her bolero.

"Whoa! Wait, Snowflake.", Ruby gasped and now it was her turn to blush deeply, "We _really_ can't do something like this out in the open!" Now it was the heiress' turn to grin mischievously.

"I know.", Weiss replied sweetly and gave her girlfriend a peck on the cheek, shuffling closer to her in the process, "But if you try to tease me I'll just tease back, Rose Petal." It was now that the crimsonette fully understood the white-haired girl's actions.

"Oh, shut up, you...", Ruby pouted and rested her forehead against her partner's.

"Then _make me_ , my adorable dolt.", Weiss simply responded. The younger girl immediately knew what she meant... and leaned in.

But just before their lips met, the sound of a bell echoed through the small town. Unfortunately, the two girls already knew what that was supposed to mean.

"Oh, shoot...", Ruby sighed as she pulled away again. However, Weiss followed her movements and managed to capture her lips in a short, yet sweet kiss.

"Well, then... it seems duty calls.", the heiress said, stood up and dusted her skirt off. She gallantly took the younger girl's hand and pulled her to her feet as well, and after that, she grabbed her rapier.

"Ready, Snowflake?", Ruby asked determined and unfolded her scythe.

"Ready, Rose Petal.", Weiss responded with a curt nod.

Then, the two young Huntresses made a dash to the palisade to join the town watch in the impending Grimm-encounter.

* * *

When the young couple reached the gate in the south-east, their teammates, as well as the city guard (Ash in front), were already there, fending off the attack. Ruby and Weiss didn't hesitate one second and threw themselves into the fray. Nevertheless, the heiress simultaneously tried to keep an eye on her girlfriend – Ruby tended to act a little weird while fighting due to her current condition.

The fight didn't take that long, though – it was only a pack of Creeps, after all. Even though the enemy got reinforcements from time to time, their numbers soon started to dwindle. But then again, there were also a few mutated specimens that accompanied the normal ones. And while they didn't particularly lengthen the encounter, they definitely made it a lot more dangerous.

On the _bright_ _side_ , this way Yang and Blake could "gather a little combat experience against these purple bastards", as Ash had put it. And while they were pretty surprised at first, the two girls quickly adapted to these new foes, relying more on ranged attacks and timing their dodges more precisely to avoid the acid explosions. The creatures didn't stand a chance against so many well-trained fighters, and after about twenty minutes, team RWBY, along with the town watch, got rid of the threat.

"And THAT settles the case!", the guard captain growled while he drove his flaming blade through the last Creep (a normal one, fortunately). The Grimm evaporated shortly after and the Ex-Huntsman extinguished his sword and returned it to its sheath before reloading his firearm.

"Holy crap!", Yang panted, addressing Ruby and Weiss, "I know you've told me about these things but damn, I didn't expect _THIS_!" Since her fighting style required a lot more proximity to the enemy, the acid explosions gave her an even harder time than her teammates.

"Yup! These bastards can fuck ya up real bad if ya don't watch your ass!", Ash grumbled, "By the way, packing one hell of a punch there, Blondie. Hat tip to ya!"

"Aww, it was nothing.", the brawler replied with a grin and scratched the back of her head.

"And these shadow clones're pretty amazin', too.", the guard captain addressed Blake, "Ya Semblance's definitely tailor-made to fight these things."

"Thank you.", the Faunus responded, a little embarrassed by the sudden praise.

"Whate'er... enough with the pats on our backs.", Ash said nonchalantly, "I guess ya guys can call it a day. These things usually need some time to gang up again after such an attack, so I'm pretty sure there won't be another ambush waitin' for us today. Return to the inn and get some rest. Who knows when you'll have the chance to sleep in a proper bed again. Tomorrow, we're moving out as soon as these Atlesian rust buckets arrive. Copy that?"

"Yessir.", Weiss, Blake, and Yang responded. Ruby, however, remained silent.

"Great!", the black-haired man exclaimed, "See ya tomorrow then. G'night, girls." Then, he left the team to check on his men.

"Ash is probably right.", Blake pondered, "We should get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be tough."

"Agreed.", Yang seconded, "Even though it's probably not even eight, let's return to the inn and enjoy a little leisure time. Not much to do here anyway anymore. We should've brought some board games..."

Weiss only nodded.

But as the group made their way to the inn, Ruby didn't move a single inch. She just continued to stand there, her eyes focused on the gate and the forest behind it. Her team noticed pretty soon that their leader wasn't following them and turned around again.

"Ruby? Everything alright?", Weiss asked, worry apparent in her voice.

"Huh?" Upon hearing her girlfriend calling her name, the crimsonette spun around to face her teammates. The heiress immediately noticed that her eyes had become dull again and also seemed to appear a little darker. But after their gazes met and remained like this for a few seconds, the younger girl shook her head and blinked a few times... and the silver orbs had regained their usual shine.

"Umm, yeah. Totally fine.", Ruby exclaimed and scratched the back of her head, "Just spaced out a little, is all. Let's go back to the inn." With these words and a reassuring smile, she caught up with her team and the four girls continued their walk to the hostel.

However, Weiss' worries hadn't dissolved at all. She knew what had happened: The recent fighting had been messing with her girlfriend's Grimm-affected mind again. And this had been just a smaller encounter. Who knew what they would have to face tomorrow... and what it would do to Ruby?

The heiress shook the negative thoughts out of her mind and concentrated on the promise she had given her beloved Rose Petal instead: She would be there for her, no matter what! She would endure everything thrown at her to save this adorable girl! This mission had to be successful!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back at Nave, huh? Apparently, the village has seen better days... just like team RWBY. But the mission is about to start, so let's hope everything will turn out fine and they are going to find a cure for Ruby's illness.
> 
> Let me know what you think about this chapter in the comments. I know there isn't that much going on at the moment, but please be patient – we're going to get a little more action soon enough. And (as promised) there will be some fluffier scenes in between the adventure stuff. A futa story with that much plot... weird, am I right? I hope there are still some people left reading this thing at this point^^ Stay tuned for the next chapter, folks!


	34. Moans Before the Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Attention! Some serious fluff and smut ahead! Ruby and Weiss share another sweet and tender moment before the mission will finally start. I thought I'd owe you as well as these adorable dolts that much after everything we all went through. It's most certainly the last smut scene in this and the upcoming arc, so I thought the young couple deserves another moment of happiness before shit hits the fan...
> 
> Anyway... enjoy, Ladies and Gentlemen! This is as good as it gets... probably...

Late that evening, Ruby and Weiss were in their respective room in the inn. They didn't know if it was the same one as the last time they were here, but they remembered it all too well: Two cozy beds with a nightstand next to each one of them, a small table with two chairs, a stove with a pan and a cooking pot on top, a counter with a sink and a small shelve next to it, and, of course, the tiny bathroom in the corner. Add a fridge, a sofa, and a TV and it would be a nice if minuscule apartment.

Yang and Blake were crashing in the room right next to them; it probably looked the same. But they weren't here to stay very long, after all. They had a mission to attend to. The safety of the village and, most importantly, Ruby's life depended on their success.

"It's almost surreal that it's almost a month since we were here the last time.", Weiss addressed her partner the moment the younger girl left the bathroom in her pajamas, "But then again, it's also kinda surreal that we're here _again_ , after all."

"You tell me.", Ruby responded and finished drying off her hair with a towel, "If it wasn't for my condition we probably wouldn't have seen this place ever again. But, for some odd reason, I'm glad it turned out like that. Now we can help the townspeople, too."

"Always thinking of others, even though you have your own problems at the moment.", the heiress said with a warm smile, "You are without a doubt the nicest, cutest, bravest, most caring girl in all of Remnant."

"Flatterer.", the younger simply replied. Then, she made her way over to her girlfriend and planted a soft kiss on her lips. Weiss immediately melted away.

"Oh, best kisser there is...", the white-haired girl added after they pulled away from each other, "I almost forgot to mention that."

"Can you really evaluate that?", Ruby asked with a smile, "I'm the only person you kissed so far, after all."

"And I wouldn't want it any other way.", Weiss responded without hesitation.

"Well, anyway... It's pretty late, so I'm going to hit the hay.", the younger girl explained and pressed her lips to the heiress' cheek one last time, "G'night, Snowflake."

"I'm just grabbing a quick shower and go to bed afterwards, too.", the white-haired girl said, "It was a long day."

"It was, indeed. Especially the fight against these _purple bastards_ , as Ash put it.", the crimsonette seconded with a giggle.

"Please don't adopt his rude choice of words.", Weiss requested, "I like my Rose Petals cute and childish."

"Your wish is my command, Snowflake.", the younger girl said and saluted with a grin.

She earned a loving smile from her girlfriend as well, then, the heiress left to take her shower while Ruby got comfortable in her bed.

* * *

When Weiss left the bathroom, now in her nightgown, she noticed that Ruby already laid in her bunk, breathing softly, yet, not softly enough to be asleep. The white-haired girl couldn't help but smile. Now, her favorite part of the day would finally start: cuddling with her girlfriend. She had to go without that far too long during the last week anyway.

The moment Ruby felt somebody crawl into her bed, she noticeable shuddered. However, she soon relaxed the moment the sweet scent of vanilla filled her nostrils and gentle, delicate hands wrapped themselves around her body. Even though she couldn't read her girlfriend's mind, she had to admit that this was her favorite part of the day, too. Yet, the younger girl was suddenly taken aback when she felt one of the aforementioned hands at a... specific place.

"Weiss, what are you doing?", Ruby asked confused.

"Coming back to you, you adorable dolt.", the heiress whispered tenderly, referring to their last night, and kissed her girlfriend's earlobe softly, "Do you think yesterday was just an exception? I told you I'll never leave your side again, after all."

"Well, that's... not exactly what I meant.", the crimson-haired girl explained, "We can't do what we have done yesterday right now. The walls aren't soundproof and Blake and Yang are sleeping next door."

"Ruby Rose.", Weiss began, trying to sound like she tried to scold the girl again, even though her small giggle told otherwise, "Just because I want to cuddle with you doesn't mean we're going to get intimate again."

"Then why are you grabbing my boob?", the younger girl asked further and a small blush appeared on her face.

It was now that the heiress realized that one of her hands was indeed fondling one of her girlfriend's breasts. She hadn't even noticed until now that the crimsonette was pointing it out. Almost immediately, a faint blush crept across her cheeks as well.

"O-oh... I-I'm sorry.", Weiss immediately apologized and withdrew her hand, placing it on the other girl's stomach instead, "I, umm, didn't mean to. Force of habit, I guess."

"You are forgiven.", Ruby responded with a giggle herself and wriggled her body closer to her girlfriend, "It's nice to be so close to you, after all."

"And I wouldn't want it any other way.", the white-haired girl repeated herself and tightened the embrace a little, kissing the crimsonette's earlobe affectionately again.

Suddenly, she noticed two things. First of all, a certain part of her body already seemed to be responding to the aforementioned _closeness_ again. Her member slowly got erect because of the delightful feeling of having a warm, round, soft... in short, perfect butt pressed against it. Now that was the second thing: even though Ruby had told her that they couldn't do something like yesterday again, the younger girl was gently (and probably unconsciously) rubbing her butt up and down the growing bulge beneath the heiress' nightgown.

"You know, Rose Petal...", the heiress began, "Your objection against any intimate activities would seem more credible if you wouldn't be wriggling your beautiful behind against my crotch." It was now that Ruby noticed her actions herself.

"Umm, well... I guess that's also force of habit.", the crimson-haired girl explained, "I should probably stop this, right?"

"Please tell me you're kidding.", Weiss whispered and buried her face in the crook of her girlfriend's neck, immediately planting a gentle kiss on the soft flesh.

"Probably the worst bluff in history...", Ruby immediately responded and pressed her butt even firmer into the white-haired girl's groin.

They stayed like this for a couple of minutes. Ruby continued rubbing her butt against Weiss dick, while the white-haired girl herself caressed the smooth skin of her girlfriend's stomach in slow circles and went back to her earlobe for some more gentle nibbles. Soon, the heiress' member was fully erect and she pressed it demandingly into the younger girl's perky derriere.

"Y'know, Snowflake...", Ruby began, her voice already a needy whimper, "Maybe... if we're really, really, quiet, then..." She wasn't even able to finish her sentence before she felt a hand tugging at her pajama bottoms.

"Way ahead of you.", Weiss panted and continued to pull her girlfriend's pants down. Her other hand went to the crimsonette's face to gently turn it to the side before she lunged forward and captured her lips in a heated kiss. It wasn't for long and their tongues started to dance around each other fervently.

The young couple continued to make out for a while until Weiss wasn't satisfied with such little contact anymore. Therefore, she pulled up her nightgown and shifted her panties aside, letting her enormous member spring free. Ruby's underwear was soon to follow, then, the heiress pressed her dick between her girlfriend's blissfully soft yet still firm butt cheeks unceremoniously. Upon the feeling of these pillowy orbs of flesh hugging her cock, the white-haired girl let out a delighted moan.

The moment the younger girl noticed the powerful throbs of thick cock meat on her rear, she started to hum appreciatively into the kiss while continuing to grind herself against her girlfriend. Soon, she felt the warm and sticky sensation of Weiss' pre-cum on her butt cheeks – a clear indicator that what she was doing was appreciated, to say at least.

Suddenly, the heiress pulled her face away from Ruby's and began to nibble on the soft skin of her neck again, dragging her lips and tongue along the back and side of it, slathering it in her saliva. The crimsonette herself grabbed one of Weiss' hands and guided it under her tank top and to one of her breasts. Of course, she never ceased to rub her butt up and down the white-haired girl's length.

The heiress groped and massaged her girlfriend's chest for a minute or two, toying with the small, erect nipple occasionally and coaxing a few more moans out of Ruby, but she soon came to the conclusion that it was time to proceed to something... more pleasurable. She ignored the disapproving whine that left the crimsonette's throat as soon as she let go of her boob, then, her hand wandered down this insanely sexy body that was hers to play with. It soon found its destination: Ruby's already dripping wet center. The white-haired girl made sure to rub affectionate circles over her lover's clit first off before she finally pushed two of her fingers inside the velvety tunnel.

"Oh, Weiss...", Ruby moaned out, suddenly completely overchallenged by her girlfriend's actions. She didn't know what she should do now: Pushing her hips back to grind against the heiress' dick a little more or shoving them forward so these delicate fingers could reach even deeper? An impossible choice to make...

"Do you like that, Rose Petal?", Weiss purred affectionately while she continued to wriggle her fingers around inside of Ruby's slick passage.

"M-more, please.", the younger simply answered pleadingly and finally made her decision – she pressed her hips further into the digits that were bringing her so much pleasure at the moment. However, the heiress quickly corrected the lack of soft, warm skin on her member by pushing it back between Ruby's perfect buns herself – something the younger girl didn't mind one bit.

The couple's foreplay continued for some time: kissing, groping, rubbing, squeezing... everything accompanied by a sweet symphony of gasps and moans, even though the two girls still tried to keep the noise down. However, despite the things they were doing at the moment being pretty pleasurable already, their growing lust soon got the better of them. The two lovers needed to be closer, needed to feel more of each other... they needed to be _whole_ again.

"R-ruby...", Weiss gasped, stopping her movements and just pressing her rigid cock into the crimsonette's butt crack as hard as she could, "I-I can't wait any longer. I... we..."

She didn't even have to finish her sentence – her girlfriend knew exactly what she wanted. The younger girl craved the same, after all: This huge shaft had to fill and stretch her pussy as soon as possible. Therefore, Ruby simply threw the covers off of them and rolled onto her stomach.

"Do me like that this time.", the younger explained in a needy whimper, "Yesterday I was on top. Today it's the other way around. I want to repay you for trusting me, so... Do what you want to me. Ravage me. Dominate me! You're in charge of tonight and I'm at your mercy, Snowflake." The words had barely left her mouth before the crimson-haired girl's hand grabbed her butt cheeks and spread them apart, fully presenting her nether regions to her girlfriend.

At Ruby's explanation, Weiss was taken aback for a moment. While she understood why her girlfriend wanted to be the bottom this time, it was a little unlike her to be that submissive. However, the moment the younger girl spread her legs and pulled her buns apart, the heiress' thoughts and reflections were blown away.

Even though it was pretty dark in the room, the pale moonlight falling through the window was illuminating it enough for Weiss to behold this mesmerizing sight. Even the words o _verwhelmingly beautiful_ couldn't come close to what she thought of her partner's body: Ruby's toned, yet feminine thighs, her smooth, milky white butt cheeks, the puffy outer lips of her sex, glistening with wetness and want, and the cute, pink, tiny hole sitting above her pussy. For some reason, this especially caught the heiress' attention. She knew that people could have sex that way too and she briefly considered asking if...

No. Trying new things would probably take a lot of preparation and she needed to be inside of Ruby as soon as possible. Her dick was painfully hard and throbbing with need right now. So why waste any more time when there was a perfectly nice, wet, soft and (for a reason she didn't understand but also didn't question) always virginally tight slit anticipating her?

"What are you waiting for, Snowflake?", Ruby asked in confusion, even though it sounded more like a needy whimper, "My pussy feels so empty and lonely without you inside of it."

At the blunt and lewd request, spoken in such a cute and innocent tone, Weiss blushed in a deep shade of red. Her member throbbed powerfully and a huge glob of pre-cum bubbled from the tip. The heiress immediately got on top of her girlfriend and lined her dick up with Ruby's dripping wet entrance. Then, without hesitation, she pushed forward, stretching the younger girl's flower wide open and forcing about two thirds of her enormous length into it in a single thrust. The only reason her advance was stopped was because of the spongy barrier she slammed into – she had already reached Ruby's cervix!

At the sudden sensation of the tight, slick passage clinging to her cock so eagerly, Weiss collapsed on top her girlfriend. She pressed her body as close to the crimsonette's back as possible and buried her face in the crook of her neck to muffle her otherwise deafening moan. The white-haired girl remained like this for a few moments to allow them to catch their breaths again. Aside from the fact that she was blinded by passion... that had escalated quickly.

"Wow... s-so deep so suddenly.", Ruby half-moaned, half-giggled, "It seems that someone's pretty horny."

"S-shut up, you.", Weiss whimpered back and gave her girlfriend's earlobe another nibble, "I can't help it. It's your fault for being so sexy." True to her words, her hips moved back on their own a few inches before thrusting back into Ruby's warm, welcoming snatch, hitting her cervix again in the process. This action caused the younger girl to moan again, this time considerably louder.

"Geez, Weiss. Warn a girl next time.", Ruby said and bit her bottom lip to prevent another lewd noise from slipping out of her mouth, "We need to be quiet, remember?"

"S-sorry...", the white-haired girl responded in a shaky voice, yet, she didn't stop her thrusting... a little more gentle, though.

They continued their sweet love-making for a while, enjoying the divine feeling of hard, throbbing cock grinding along trembling, wet inner walls and vice versa. Soon, both girls began to make out with each other again, alternating between soft, timid pecks and hot, yearning kisses. It was a little uncomfortable to do so in their current position compared to the other ones they had tried so far, but both girls couldn't care less as long as they could taste the other's lips.

After a few minutes of thrusting, Weiss tried something different. She pushed her dick as deep into Ruby's quivering pussy as it would go and started to move it up and down a little. This caused the tip to rub over the crimsonette's cervix affectionately and coaxed another series of needy moans out of her throat. Pleased with the results, Weiss wanted to continue thrusting, keeping in mind to do what she just had from time to time. But the moment she tried to pull out again, Ruby suddenly held her back by grabbing her ass and pushing her down. Even though this surprised the heiress a bit, she complied and stayed, her dick firmly lodged against the younger girl's cervix.

"Weiss...", Ruby suddenly whimpered, "Deeper."

"D-deeper?", the white-haired girl asked, "But then I..." She knew that there was only one way to shove even more of her cock into her girlfriend's pussy.

"I know.", the younger girl cut her off impatiently, "P-please, deeper. I need it. All of it... all of _you_."

How could Weiss turn down this request? Of course, she felt exactly like Ruby. What the younger girl was asking for, as unnatural as it might be, was the closest they could physically get, after all. Being inside Ruby's most sacred place was something only reserved for her – well, besides their future children, that is. But for now, it was hers and hers alone.

With this in thought, Weiss pressed forward, determined to make their wish come true. As always, she was met with resistance but, of course, this wasn't going to stop her. She wanted it, her girlfriend wanted it as well – so they _would_ make it happen! The white-haired girl just pushed a little harder while Ruby tried her best to relax.

Agonizingly slowly, another inch of pulsing flesh disappeared into the younger girl's snatch, yet, her cervix didn't give way. Maybe their position was a little unsuited to allow Weiss to fully enter her. Soon, Ruby was starting to get a little uncomfortable. The moment her girlfriend noticed, she immediately halted her actions and whispered soothing words into her ear, trying to ease her discomfort.

However, the crimsonette used this opportunity to turn her head to the side again, pulled Weiss down and captured her lips in a passionate kiss. Then, she bucked her hips against the heiress' crotch again, urging her to continue. Spurred on by her girlfriend's passion, Weiss continued to push forward while slipping her tongue into Ruby's mouth, causing the younger girl to moan sensually. This finally did the trick: Without a warning, the resistance the white-haired girl felt on the tip of her dick was suddenly replaced with the vice-like grip of the crimsonette's cervix.

Weiss managed to muffle the shriek that escaped her lips at the sensation by burying her face into the crook of her girlfriend's neck again. Ruby herself accomplished that by simply pressing her face into the pillow she was lying upon. However, the noises were still pretty loud – it was highly unlikely that they had passed unnoticed... not that the young couple cared that much about that anymore anyway.

"Finally...", the crimsonette panted, her voice still muffled by the pillow, "T-that was a lot harder than usual."

"You tell me...", Weiss seconded, trying to catch her breath as well, "A-are you alright, Rose Petal?"

"Uh-huh...", Ruby simply confirmed with a nod.

Then, the younger girl pushed her hips back even further until her butt finally met Weiss' groin. This caused the heiress to draw in a sharp breath while she tried to hold back the urge to cum right on the spot. As always, the sensation of Ruby's impossibly tight cervix squeezing her dick in the rhythm of the girl's pounding heartbeat was almost too much to handle.

The crimsonette quickly noticed her Snowflake's struggles and she asked teasingly (even though her voice was still shaky): "W-wanna start moving or d-do you need a minute?"

However, her teasing attempt backfired on her almost immediately. The words had barely left her mouth before Weiss suddenly pulled back, about halfway, yet, Ruby's still tensed up cervix didn't let go of her cock. Then, without a warning, the white-haired girl slammed home again – and Ruby was seeing stars in an instant.

The younger girl had totally underestimated how incredibly sensitive she still was herself. But now that she noticed it, it was already too late. The moment her girlfriend's dick smashed into the back of her womb again, an intense orgasm rocked through her body, forcing her to bite the pillow to stifle her gasps and moans. That was the last thing her brain was able to command her to before her very being started to tremble and spasm uncontrollably... totally absorbed in the pleasure of being penetrated so deep that she could feel the throbbing vibrations of the heiress' dick even in her chest.

It was little short of a miracle that Weiss didn't cum the moment she felt Ruby's velvety walls clench down on her cock with the force of a screw clamp. The white-haired girl tried to think of anything besides her wonderful girlfriend and all the naughty things she could, would and/or was doing to her. Chores, homework, training, missions... whatever so she wouldn't give the crimsonette the satisfaction of joining her in orgasm. If Ruby wanted to tease her, she had to expect sweet, naughty payback.

"H-how was that, Rose Petal?", the white-haired girl panted after she had calmed down again (which took her some time), teasing her girlfriend the way she had been teased before, "W-wanna continue or do you need a m-minute?" Even though she still tried to control her breathing, her tone of voice managed to show superiority.

"No fair...", Ruby whined jokingly, her breath still hitching, "Y-you took advantage of my natural weakness to unique white-haired Schnee-girl penises reaching way too far."

"I am immensely sorry about that, Rose Petal.", Weiss cooed soothingly, "I promise I'll make it up to you somehow."

"Forget about that!", the younger girl panted, "I came already. Now it's time for you to simply enjoy me. Go wild. Ravage me. Let me be your little plaything to get off."

"Ruby Rose...", the heiress whispered tenderly, trying to keep her voice even, "I will never ever treat you like a toy I just use to blow off some steam. W-whenever we're making love, it is the most wonderful thing in my life. And I want you to enjoy it as much as I do... even more... to show you how much you mean to me."

Weiss had barely finished her little speech before she felt another series of loving contractions of Ruby's nether regions around her member. Obviously, her partner was _appreciating_ her declaration. Of course, that was just a small word for how the crimson-haired girl really felt.

"S-stop all that sweet talk already.", the Ruby sobbed tenderly, "You're just g-going to get me off again with this."

"Then get off again.", Weiss simply replied, "That's all I'm living for at the moment... my cute, little Rose Petal."

"But this time, you have to cum with me, okay?", the crimsonette asked and bucked her hips against her girlfriend again.

"Promise.", the heiress reassured the younger girl.

After that response, Weiss began to gently thrust into Ruby's velvety canal anew. The task of cumming together with her should be easy enough to accomplish – if the white-haired girl wouldn't try to hold back that vehemently every time they had sex, she could reach her peak any moment upon the feeling of these soft and wet inner walls caressing her member so lovingly. It was a miracle that she hadn't ejaculated prematurely to this day.

The moment Ruby felt her girlfriend's slow, loving thrusts again, she rewarded the heiress with a symphony of sweet hums and moans. The younger girl was still pretty sensitive from her recent orgasm but she didn't care in the slightest. If her brain would be turned to mush by this dick, then so be it. A foreign hand suddenly slid over her own, entwining their fingers, and Ruby immediately grabbed it, tender yet firm, while pleasure slowly replaced every other thought or feeling again.

As their love-making continued, Weiss' initially gentle movements got faster and faster. It wasn't for long and she was hammering into her girlfriend fervently. The slapping of flesh against flesh soon echoed through the small room, accompanied by lustful gasps and moans which got louder by the second. Of course, both girls still tried to keep their voices down but that wasn't as easy as they had assumed anymore – so much for staying quiet.

The heiress noticed once more how frantically Ruby's inner walls clung to her member as if they didn't want to let go of a single inch of throbbing dickflesh. This, combined with the wonderful sensation of loving ripples and squeezes, drove Weiss closer to climax. She knew that she wouldn't be able to hold back very long anymore, even if she wanted to. But that wasn't the plan, after all. The younger girl had already said that she wanted her to cum, so why not comply with her wish?

Meanwhile, Ruby felt herself getting filled up with pre-cum. And while it still felt nice and warm, it lacked the searing heat and, of course, the sheer volume of Weiss' actual ejaculation that the younger girl loved... no, craved so much at the moment. However, the way the enormous member twitched and trembled inside of her pussy told her that she wouldn't have to wait for the real thing much longer.

"You're getting b-bigger inside me, Snowflake...", Ruby noted between her moans, "Are you about to cum?"

"Uh-huh...", Weiss simply responded with a nod, "W-what about you?"

"C-close again.", the crimsonette answered, "But don't worry 'bout me. I-I'll cum anyway the moment I feel you filling me up."

"Y-you sure?", the heiress asked but quickened her thrusts nonetheless.

"Absolutely... S-so please...", Ruby begged, her voice nothing more than a needy whimper now, "Don't torture me any longer. Give me your thick, hot spunk. Fill me up to the brim and then some. Turn my womb into your little sperm bank. There's a fire in my pussy only your cum can put out. P-please, Snowflake... Cum!"

"Hngh..." A muffled moan was everything Weiss could croak out before her climax hit her like a thunderbolt.

Hearing this usually so innocent girl beg for her cum proved to be too much for the heiress to bear. With one final thrust, she shoved her cock as deep into her girlfriend as it would go, easily reaching the back of Ruby's womb and pushing the organ further up and into her belly. The bulge on the younger girl's normally flat stomach (even though the couple couldn't see it at the moment) was almost reaching her sternum by now.

Then, the floodgates opened.

The crimsonette was right with her earlier assumption: The moment she felt the first huge, powerful spurt of cum smashing into the back of her uterus, another orgasm rocked through her core, way more intense than the first. The reason for that was a simple one – nothing could compare to the sensation of her girlfriend painting her insides white. For Ruby, this wasn't just some fluid filling her up. It was way more than that: it was the proof of Weiss' love, a proof of how much it aroused the heiress to be with her. And there was a lot of... well, proof.

Wave after ridiculously huge wave of jelly-like cum, _way_ hotter than any normal bodily fluid, splashed into Ruby's greedy womb with no end in sight. Weiss' inhuman output soon caused the tiny organ to swell since the only exit was, as always, sealed airtight. The sheer amount of spunk pumped into her lifted Ruby up an inch or two as her belly needed room to expand. In next to no time, the younger girl had been given a clear picture of what she would look like if she were about four or five months pregnant.

The spurts of Weiss' member slowly became smaller and less frequent and eventually died down completely. However, its throbbing and twitching still continued for a while longer, effectively prolonging Ruby's orgasm. The contractions of the younger girl's pussy milked the last trickles of cum out of the heiress dick, then, after another minute, they ceased as well. Weiss fully collapsed onto her girlfriend as her body finally went slack from exhaustion. After that, the young couple just lied there, basking in the afterglow of their mind-numbing climax.

If they would still give a damn about being quiet, the two girls would've realized by now that it was impossible that anyone in the inn hadn't heard what they were doing to this point. But then again, Ruby and Weiss were far from caring about this at the moment.

* * *

The young couple needed a few minutes to recover from this intense sensation. They spend their time with soft cuddles and caresses while the aftershocks of their orgasms still shook their bodies. Slowly, their breathing became (somewhat) regular again and their heart rates returned to normal as well. The feeling of satisfaction remained nonetheless.

"I'll... I'll never get tired of this...", Weiss panted and gave her girlfriend's earlobe a gentle nibble, "Metaphorically speaking, of course, because... whew..."

"I know what you mean...", Ruby sighed exhaustedly, "S-so full..."

"I would say that I'm sorry if you haven't begged for it a few minutes ago.", Weiss giggled and kissed the younger girl's earlobe once more, "I hope my performance was satisfying, Rose Petal."

The only answer she got was a gentle squeeze of her hand, but it spoke volumes about the crimsonette's feelings nonetheless. With a happy smile, the heiress buried her head back into the crook of her girlfriend's neck and planted another series of tender kisses on the soft flesh. The smell of sex, sweat, and roses filled her nostrils and a couple of appreciative hums reached her ear. Weiss totally wouldn't mind dying like this someday.

"More...", Ruby suddenly whispered.

"What?", the white-haired girl asked confused, her voice still muffled by her lover's neck.

"I want more.", the crimsonette repeated, "You're still hard, I'm still horny. I want more... more sweet love-making with my one and only, very best and over all beloved Snowflake."

At this devoted declaration, Weiss' indeed still rock-hard dick throbbed powerfully and released another huge glob of pre-cum into Ruby's womb – even though it barely added anything to the mass of spunk already in there.

"Who knows when we'll be able to do something like this again?", the younger girl continued, "We'll be out in the field for who knows how long... and after that... if we find that Grimm... or if not..."

Without a warning, Weiss pulled out of her girlfriend in one, swift motion. She had heard enough. The last thing the heiress wanted right now was Ruby worrying about anything at all. This adorable girl deserved only pleasure for tonight.

"W-what are you doing, Snowflake?", Ruby half-pouted, half-whimpered as soon as she felt the uncomfortable emptiness in her womanhood. A gush of cum escaped her pussy but it was still insignificantly small compared to the rest of the load that was sitting securely inside of her womb.

"Turn around.", Weiss demanded in a lust-filled voice and grabbed her girlfriend by her shoulder, turning her over, "This time, I want to see your beautiful face when you cum. I want to kiss your beautiful lips when it happens. No excuses!"

"O-okay.", the crimsonette responded, surprised by her lover's sudden desire. But, of course, she welcomed it pretty much. It felt amazing to be wanted, no, _craved_ by the person she loved so much.

Weiss wasted no time and quickly pulled her girlfriend's pajama bottoms and panties completely off her body the moment Ruby was on her back. Her own nightgown followed soon after while the younger girl got rid of her tank top, lying completely naked in front of the heiress now. At the mesmerizing sight, Weiss' member throbbed with need as if the previous orgasm had never happened. Understandable upon seeing Ruby's beautiful body: her perfectly round, perky breasts, her curvaceous hips, the usually flat and toned, now slightly cum-inflated stomach... which was about to get even bigger...

The white-haired girl snapped out of her trance and wiped a bit of drool from her mouth. She had no idea how long she had been staring, but the almost painful twitches of her dick reminded her of her original plans. Therefore, she quickly crawled between the crimsonette's legs (which the younger girl spread for her in anticipation) and lined up her cock with Ruby's soaking wet entrance.

"I love you, Rose Petal.", Weiss whispered tenderly, "And whatever happens, I'll always will. Never forget that."

"I know... I love you, too.", Ruby responded and a tear of emotion came to her eyes, "Take me."

The words had barely left her mouth before the heiress pressed forward.

The crimsonette's pussy offered little to no resistance this time as it was penetrated by Weiss' enormous shaft once again. In a single motion, the white-haired girl buried her dick deep into Ruby's velvety canal until the tip nudged her cervix. The sudden sensation coaxed a couple of gasps and moans out of both girls' throats and made their bodies tremble for a few seconds.

After the initial shock was over, Weiss wanted to start thrusting. But suddenly, moving back wasn't an option anymore because of her girlfriend's legs that were wrapped around her hips. A moment later, a pair of delicate hands wrapped themselves around her neck as well and, with a loving smile directed at her, Ruby pulled the white-haired girl down and captured her lips in a tender kiss. Simultaneously, the crimsonette used her legs to push her lover even closer to her body, the result being that Weiss' cock breached her cervix once again and entered her womb.

Upon feeling the tight grip of Ruby's uterine orifice on her member, the white-haired girl moaned needily into her girlfriend's mouth. The urge of cumming instantly welled up in her body again but she immediately suppressed it. She wanted this heavenly feeling to last as long as possible, after all.

Thanks to Ruby pulling her partner as close to her as possible, Weiss' dick was buried to the hilt inside of her already cum-stuffed womb in a matter of seconds. The moment the younger girl felt their crotches being tightly pressed together, she wriggled her hips seductively to indicate the white-haired girl that she could start thrusting now. And thrusting was what Weiss did.

Completely overtaken by her lust, the heiress immediately started to pound into her girlfriend again. All the while, the two girls continued to make out with each other, only pulling away to take a sharp breath from time to time before mashing their lips together again. Since there was literally no space between their bodies, Weiss felt her lover's full, perky breasts rubbing against her own with every movement she made. The sensation of their erect nipples brushing over each other only added to the immense pleasure they were already experiencing at the moment. Soon, impassioned hums and moans filled the tiny room again, accompanied by the wet smacks of flesh against flesh.

However, there were a couple of other noises lying underneath it... some kind of gurgling or bubbling sound. Weiss immediately realized what that was: Her cum that was sloshing around inside of Ruby's womb. Now that was pretty weird, but, for some reason, the white-haired girl found it incredibly hot. This was her essence inside of her girlfriend... and soon, it wouldn't be the only load in there.

What the two girls were doing now wasn't just simply being intimate with each other anymore. No, it was raw, hard _fucking_ , driven by a blinding lust and passion for the other's body and mind. They wanted to own their lover completely while simultaneously giving themselves away to the other with everything they had and were. Their Auras started to intertwine, sharing the sensations they were feeling at the moment, which only amplified their pleasure.

The younger girl's insides squeezed and caressed Weiss' pistoning cock all the time as one miniature orgasm after the other shook her form without pause. The only three things Ruby's brain was able to communicate by now were breathing, clinging to their embrace, and bucking her hips against the heiress' groin. A familiar heat started to pool in her nether regions, announcing a real, tremendous, most certainly mind-shattering climax, completely inevitable even if she wanted to suppress it. But, of course, suppressing this was the last thing Ruby wanted.

Weiss wasn't that far behind her girlfriend as well. She was incredibly close and already felt her cock twitch and swell, readying itself for release. The ripples and squeezes of the younger girl's wet, hot inner walls caused her mind to go blank with pleasure and only one, single thought managed to stay present in her as well as Ruby's head:

** "Cum! Now!" **

There was no turning back. As much as both of them wanted to continue, this was the end of the line.

"R-ruby... I'm about to...", the heiress whimpered as she sped up her thrusts one last time.

"M-me too.", Ruby panted back and clung to her girlfriend for dear life, "We're p-pretty good at this _c-cumming_ _together_ thing, huh?"

"Ap-parently.", Weiss responded and prepared for her climax, "I l-love you. So. Much."

"I love yo... Ahhhh!", the younger girl tried to respond but a final, especially hard thrust from Weiss knocked the air out of her lungs. Then, everything happened way too quickly.

The moment Ruby felt her girlfriend's dick slamming into her as deep as it could possibly go, all the bottled-up heat in her stomach exploded with an intensity of a thousand suns. Every muscle in her body tensed up as she pulled Weiss closer to her, even though there wasn't any space left between them already. Her fingernails raked across the heiress' back, threatening to draw blood if it wasn't for the white Aura protecting the smooth skin.

While Ruby's body trembled uncontrollably, her velvety insides contracted violently around the throbbing and swelling cock that almost reached her chest. The powerful, almost painful squeezed had only one goal: milking the intruder for every drop of semen the white-haired girl was willing to give them. And they were about to get it.

With a guttural shriek, Weiss reached her peak as well. The vice-like grip of Ruby's heavenly snatch on her dick left her with no other choice but to cum as hard as physically possible. She somehow managed to bury her head into the crook of the younger girl's neck before she lost control of her body. Her huge member trembled and expanded, ready to pump another potent, oversized load into the already over-stuffed womb of its mate. Weiss could even feel her own pussy clench down hard as it joined the rest of her body in orgasm, maybe slightly disappointed upon finding itself empty. However, this was quickly cleared off the heiress' mind the moment the first, thick batch of cum traveled through her cock and finally reached its destination.

Even though it was her second consecutive orgasm, the only slightly less massive spurt of Weiss' essence still hit the back of Ruby's womb with enough force to make her belly visibly shudder. The next and the third one soon followed, somehow forcing their way into the already cum-stuffed organ without anything spilling out again. However, the heiress was far from done and, too drunk on pleasure to even think about pulling out, simply continued to fill her girlfriend up with the thick, white liquid the crimsonette loved so much inside of her. The younger girl's womb and stomach rapidly swelled even more to accommodate to the monstrous flood while her cervix clenched down hard on Weiss' cock to make sure not to let a single drop go to waste. When Weiss' climax finally subsided, her lover looked like she was somewhere in her last trimester.

The near endless stream of cum made it clear to Ruby once again that her Snowflake didn't seem to have a refractory period at all. Whatever Dust had been used to alter her body had to be some powerful stuff. Not that the younger girl wasted a second thought on it – she was just incredibly grateful that her Snowflake was the way she was and that they could share all of these wonderful sensations... together.

* * *

Again, the two girls were lying on top of each other and basked in the afterglow of their climaxes. The feeling of the other's pounding heartbeat that slowly returned to normal, the sweet, exhausted pants, and the soft caresses while being hugged lovingly were the only things that mattered right now. Even the fact that they were on a mission and this wasn't their dorm room needed some time to reenter their brains – and even then it was only an irrelevancy to them at the moment.

The crimsonette continued to lazily kiss her girlfriend's neck for a couple of minutes but exhaustion soon got the better of her. The three incredibly intense orgasms, as well as the uncountable miniature ones, she had experienced during the last few eternities of being intimate with her girlfriend made it impossible to stay awake any longer. The fullness of her womb, as delightful as the feeling of being stuffed with so much of Weiss' love was, only added to her drowsiness. She was sure that she had earned herself some rest. The last thing that crossed her mind was the thought of her cherished, beloved, amazing Snowflake before she passed out.

Weiss, regardless of how refined she had thought her vocabulary was, didn't have a word for the satisfaction she felt at the moment. Here, in her girlfriend's arms after so many tender moments they had shared, _complete_ probably came closest to what she actually wanted to express. She felt loved, treasured, protected, and a million other blissful things... as if the last, troublesome week had never happened at all.

Staying like this after being intimate with Ruby, so close and still connected, was one of her favorite things in the world. The thought of happily dying like this someday (in the far future, of course) crossed her mind again. She felt dick slowly getting flaccid inside of the younger girl's silky tunnel, something she somewhat welcomed since the organ was a little sore already. However, the white-haired wasn't sure if that was what her girlfriend wanted... and Ruby was her top priority, after all.

"Well, Rose Petal...", Weiss sighed, still breathing heavily, "How about round three? Even though I'm pretty exhausted... if you cheer on me a little, I'm pretty sure I could manage."

There was a long silence that was followed by no response at all.

"Ruby?", the heiress asked confused and a bit worried, but once again, she didn't get an answer.

Suddenly, the white-haired girl noticed that her girlfriend's breathing had become oddly calm and regular. She wanted to lift herself up a bit but as soon as she tried, she immediately heard an annoyed groan and the crimson-haired girl pulled her back down, nuzzling her face back into the crook of Weiss' neck in the process. Apparently, Ruby was determined to sleep that exact way... not that the heiress minded one bit as she snuggled up to her again as well. It _was_ pretty comfortable lying on her girlfriend's warm, inflated, quietly sloshing mid-section, after all.

In the corner of her eye, Weiss could make out a part of the younger girl's sleeping face. Ruby was smiling and an overall content expression covered her features. No one who would see that adorable visage would ever come up with the idea that this girl was infected with a severe Grimm illness.

Unfortunately, Weiss knew otherwise. But they were here to change that, after all.

And they were going to, or die trying!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, the feels... The love between them is real. Unfortunately, Ruby was probably right with her assumption that they won't have a lot of time for something like this in the future. Let's hope this holds out for a while. Now, the mission awaits them.
> 
> Let me know what you think of the chapter in the comments. I know that not exactly much happened but I still appreciate every kind of input. I want to improve as an author, after all, and this includes writing smut scenes. Just remember: I'm not trying to depict realistic sex here, so any comments about anatomical possibilities are pretty useless to me regarding this story.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and anticipate more. The next chapters are going to be a lot more adventurous, even though I will try to work in some fluffy parts here and there. Ruby is still anything but fixed but hopefully, Weiss' love will keep her infection at bay. Otherwise... Nevermind, stay tuned for the next chapter! I'll see you there.


	35. A Grim Discovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. Last weeks were crazy and I barely got any time to write. But now the next chapter is finally finished and the mission is about to start. Enjoy!

Waking up in a sticky and, for some weird reason, still a little warm puddle of bodily fluids wasn't something Ruby and Weiss weren't already used to. They didn't pay attention to that anymore anyway – the only important thing at these mornings was the other girl in their arms. It even took them some time to remember why they weren't lying in their dorm room but in an unfamiliar bed.

Unfortunately, the alarm of Weiss' Scroll soon recalled the reason for their presence in this inn to their minds: They had a mission to complete. Ruby's fate depended on it! The townspeople of Nave needed their help! These mutated Grimm had to be stopped! A great responsibility rested on team RWBY.

With an annoyed groan, the white-haired girl reached out to silence the irritating device, even though this wasn't exactly easy since her girlfriend clung to her like a vine to its tree and tried to pull her back. Of course, Weiss found it incredibly adorable, but she also knew that they had to get up and prepare for the day. And at least showering would most certainly take a little longer than usual after last night...

'Maybe we could save some time by showering together...', the heiress thought. However, the idea was discarded the moment it crossed her mind. Being completely naked and wet in a tiny cubicle, Ruby's perfect body pressed into hers, would inevitably lead to... No, this won't save them any time at all.

Reluctantly, Weiss wriggled herself out of the crimsonette's embrace and stood up. She somehow managed to ignore the needy whimper of her still half-asleep girlfriend as well as the hand that weakly squeezed her flaccid length – even though it cost her a lot of willpower not to jump back into the bed and... The white-haired girl shook the dirty thoughts out of her mind and headed for the bathroom.

* * *

After a quick, _cold_ shower, a clean and fully dressed Weiss exited the bathroom and found her girlfriend sitting on the edge of their bed. The crimsonette still looked incredibly drowsy, but at least she had made a little progress. And in the heiress' opinion, this deserved a little reward – also, Ruby looked way too cute to not shower her with affection.

A hand on her cheek and a tender kiss on her forehead revived the younger girl enough to finally make her stand up. Then, after she had returned the affectionate gesture, she headed for the bathroom as well. Weiss couldn't help but watch every movement of Ruby's naked form, especially her butt, and she suddenly hated herself for rejecting the idea of showering together. Of course, the crimsonette noticed her girlfriend's yearning gaze and, just to tease her, added a little extra sway to her hips until she had disappeared into the bathroom.

After both girls had finished their morning routines, they double-checked their equipment and weapons again, shouldered their backpacks and left the room. The door next to theirs in the corridor stood open already – that could only mean that their teammates were all set to start the mission as well. The young couple went down the stairs, returned their key to the receptionist at the check-in desk and, with a last, confident nod to each other, exited the hostel.

* * *

Yang and Blake were already waiting for them outside of the inn, their backpacks shouldered and their weapons ready. However, they looked a little... uneasy. Ruby and Weiss shared a confused glance. What could've unsettled their teammates?

Have they argued over something? Probably not, Yang and Blake were super-besties. Had it something to do with Ruby? Were they worried about her condition? But they had seen the crimsonette being her normal self again after the fight yesterday. Then, they all had gone to their respective rooms and nothing else had happened... besides... oh...

Team White Rose's train of thought and the assumption that went along with it was confirmed pretty quickly. The moment the two duos' eyes met, the blonde and the Faunus started to blush and looked at the ground. That could only mean one thing.

"H-hey...", Ruby and Weiss greeted them shyly, immediately sensing the awkward atmosphere.

"Hey...", Blake and Yang responded, the former in an embarrassed, the latter in a slightly grumpy tone.

"Umm... what's the matter?", the white-haired girl asked carefully – even though she already knew the answer.

"Well, you see...", the Faunus began but was quickly cut off by her partner.

"The walls of this inn aren't exactly thick, y'know?", the blonde simply said and looked up again, a reproachful expression on her face. At this comment, the color of Weiss' cheeks immediately rivaled that of Ruby's cloak.

"We kiiinda tried to stay quiet but... in the heat of the moment... hehe...", the crimsonette tried to explain, chuckling meekly and scratching the back of her head.

After that, the conversation died down completely. No one knew what to make of the situation. Hearing your teammates having sex or being heard doing so, respectively, wasn't something ordinary, after all. Now, the question was how to proceed from here to ease the tension between both parties.

"Sooo... had a little fun tonight, huh?", Yang stated, mostly to avoid any more embarrassed silence. However, her sister quickly made the situation even more awkward.

"A lot, actually.", the younger girl responded cheerily and hugged her girlfriend, "But... I guess you could tell, am I right?"

Again, Blake and Yang blushed furiously and looked at their feet again. Apparently, Ruby had thought that, after her sister's comment, they could talk about the topic more casually. An honest mistake, considering her (from time to time) innocent, still somewhat childish mind – They were friends and, in the younger girl's opinion, friends could tell each other everything. However, it seemed that she was wrong about that.

"Ruby!", Weiss exclaimed embarrassed and wriggled herself out of the embrace, "How can you say something like that so nonchalantly?!"

"Oh, s-sorry.", the crimsonette apologized and hung her head in shame, immediately realizing her error of judgment, "I thought... well... I guess I haven't thought at all."

"Runs in the family.", Yang simply said with a grin – another attempt to lighten the mood and, of course, to make her sister feel better again.

"I know you didn't mean any harm, Rose Petal.", the heiress reassured her girlfriend again; she knew she had probably come off harsher than intended, "But everything that happens in the bedroom should stay between the two of us."

"I know... I'm sorry.", Ruby apologized once more, but then she added, "But... is it really that wrong that I want everybody to know how much we love each other?"

"I... umm... guess not.", Weiss admitted shyly, blushing and averting her gaze a bit, "Just... don't use any details of our... _intimate activities_ to get your point across." But, of course, she couldn't help but smile at Ruby's declaration of love.

"As you wish, Snowflake.", the younger girl responded, smiling as well, and kissed her girlfriend gently on the cheek.

"Well, now I'm disgusted and moved at the same time. Good job.", Yang suddenly noted with a lopsided grin, "But can we just leave what had happened last night behind us and concentrate on the task at hand? We're not here for the view."

"I second that.", Blake tossed in, "We should probably meet Ash at the guardhouse. Maybe he already has some new information on the Atlesian Knights."

"Yeah!", Ruby cheered, being her usual, bubbly self again, "Gooo teeeaaam RWBY!"

* * *

At the guard house, a member of the town watch informed them that Ash was currently at the village's landing site because the Atlesian Knights were about to arrive. Upon hearing this, the four girls sighed with relief – finally some good news. They gave thanks for the information and headed to the landing field near the town square. Hopefully, the mission could start as soon as their backup was here.

The grumpy guard captain stood at the edge of the landing platform and looked over the ocean. He wore his usual attire (a bit cleaner this time) and his sword and pistol already dangled from his belt. A backpack and a bedroll rested against his foot. Apparently, he was ready for action as well.

"Good morning, Ash.", the four girls greeted politely the moment they were within earshot.

"G'morning to ya, too, girls.", the tall man grumbled without turning around and pointed to the sky, "About time, am I right?"

At first, team RWBY didn't know what he meant by this, but when they gazed into the distance as well, they saw an airship approaching the village. By the time it got closer, the four girls noticed Atlesian insignia on the coarse hull. That ship must be carrying the Knights they were waiting for. Now they could finally get this show on the road.

"Looks like we're gonna move out in a few.", Ash noted, "Hope ya ready."

"As ready as can be!", Yang exclaimed enthusiastically, "I'm sick of twiddling thumbs. Let's kick some Grimm butt!"

"That's the spirit.", the guard captain responded with a grin.

The Atlesian airship soon landed a few yards next to them. After the engine noises had died down, a young-looking pilot with a burr cut exited the cockpit and, after looking around for a while, approached Ash and team RWBY. Since they looked like Huntspeople, they were probably the right point of contact considering the cargo his ship was carrying.

"Hey there!", he greeted the group of five, "Atlas military shipment. I'm looking for a Mr. Ivory."

"Found him.", Ash responded in his gravelly, grumpy voice, "Took ya guys long enough to deliver."

"Y-yeah, sorry about that.", the pilot apologized, obviously intimidated by this big hunk of a man, "We had some trouble with the logistics and stuff."

"Of course.", the guard captain muttered sarcastically, "Anyway, where's our backup? We have a mission to attend."

"Got it right here, sir.", the airman explained, fished a remote out of his pocket and pressed a button.

A moment later, the ship's cargo hatch opened and a ramp was deployed. Then, a dozen Atlesian Knights exited the belly space in lockstep and lined up in front of the group. All of them were armed with dangerous-looking assault rifles.

"Atlesian Knights. Ready for combat.", echoed a synthetic voice over the landing site, "Awaiting orders."

"AK-240, the successor of the AK-200.", the pilot explained, "Just like their predecessors, they're programmed to recognize Aura, so they will fire at anything Grimm-like automatically. You can assign single targets by simply telling them "Platoon: Attack: Ursa!", for example."

He had barely finished the sentence before the Atlesian Knights took a combat stance and cocked their rifles. Then, the robots scanned the landing site for the threat they had been assigned to eradicate. But since there weren't any Grimm to attack, they simply stayed in this position, guns ready and waiting for either another command or a target to fire at.

"Attention!", the pilot exclaimed and the Knights returned to their usual stance while engaging the safety to their weapons again.

"Obedient little rust buckets.", Ash noted and earned himself an annoyed look from the airman. Obviously, the guy was pretty irritated by the fact that a scruffy guard captain from a tiny fishing village addressed one of Atlas' state-of-the-art military technologies in such a disrespectful way. However, he didn't lose his composure and continued.

"The Atlesian Knight 240 can process a lot of simple and complex commands like movement patterns or combat strategies.", the pilot explained further, "They are capable of operating completely on their own if given a precise directive. Nevertheless, they're more effective if someone's commanding them directly – via comm or out in the field. Seems it's the latter in your case anyway."

"Damn right, son.", the guard captain grunted and cracked his knuckles, "There still are a few things a man... or woman has to do themself."

"Well, I wish you luck, guys.", the airman said conclusively and handed Ash another remote, "Just push the big white button in the middle and say "Attention Platoon K403", then they should be calibrated to your voice. Red button next to it lets you add another voice authorized to give them commands. Pretty simple. Don't lose the remote, though."

"Got it, kiddo.", the black-haired man responded, took the device and gave his companion a comradely pat on the shoulder, "Thanks for the extra firepower. We owe you and your bosses."

"Just try and get them back in one piece.", the pilot said, "I know it's going to be a pretty dangerous mission and there is no guarantee, but remember: the more of them get terminated the weaker becomes your backup."

"We promise to look out for them since they look out for us.", Ruby suddenly tossed in, "Just because they're machines doesn't mean we don't care about them."

"Ruby's right.", Weiss seconded, "They are valuable members of our team now."

"That's good to hear.", the pilot responded, "Anyway, I need to get going now. Send my superiors a message once you're back so we can pick up the Knights that made it. I hope that it'll be all of them... even though I doubt it." With this last, pretty depressing statement, he closed the cargo bay of his ship, reentered his cockpit and started the engines again.

"Way to end a conversation with Huntsmen who are about to risk their lives.", Ash grumbled as he watched the airship take off, "Not that he's entirely wrong, though. This is gonna be tough."

He then pressed the button on the remote he had received and calibrated the Atlesian Knights to his voice. After that, he passed the device to Ruby who did the same. The rest of the team followed – now they were all able to give commands to the dozen robots.

* * *

"Alright, ladies.", Ash announced, "Last time you'll be able to use a modern toilet for a while. Better safe than sorry."

"Oh, yeah. Now that's something I didn't want to be reminded of.", Yang groaned and added sarcastically, "There's nothing more ladylike than _relieving yourself_ in the woods."

"Well, every job has its pros and cons...", Blake noted with a shrug, "It was our own choice to become Huntresses, after all."

"As if the absence of sanitation is about to be our biggest problem on this mission...", Weiss sighed.

"Well, at least _you_ can pee standing up. ", the blonde responded quietly, so Ash wouldn't hear it.

"Unfortunately, my... extra equipment doesn't work that way.", the heiress explained with a faint blush, "The only thing it's good for is bothering me at the worst times."

At this statement, Ruby cleared her throat, gave her girlfriend a knowing look and raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, and for that...", Weiss added with a sheepish smile, "That's actually the only reason I can live with that thing."

"You're welcome.", the crimson-haired girl chirped and pulled her girlfriend into a quick but tender embrace.

"What's with the whispering?", Ash asked a little annoyed, "Are we good to go, or what?"

"We're ready.", Ruby quickly responded, "Let's do this."

"Alright.", the guard captain grumbled, "I think it's best to take the route along the cliffside to the tunnel. That way, we might be able to avoid any unnecessary fights. No promises, though..."

"No need to worry about that.", Yang said determined, "We can handle everything we'll find on our way or in the tunnel."

"Remember you've said that when we are ambushed by a pack of mutated Ursai or the like.", Ash responded, "Well then, time to move out."

"Is it really okay for you to accompany us?", Weiss suddenly asked the guard captain, "What if the village gets attacked while you're gone?"

"My men are more than capable of taking care of themselves and the town without me.", Ash simply answered, "And I wanna avenge everyone who got wounded or killed by these purple bastards personally. So let's go already. Platoon: Follow me."

With this last statement, the black-haired man started walking towards the palisade, followed by the twelve Atlesian Knights.

"Team RWBY: Follow me.", Ruby commanded with a giggle and the four girls got moving as well.

* * *

Just like concluded, the group took the way along the cliffside to the tunnel. Again, Ruby and Weiss noticed how beautiful the landscape actually was and, if it wasn't for the Grimm that roamed the area, it would be a nice place for a vacation. Maybe, after they had cleared out the threat of these mutated monsters, that was something to consider to do during a semester break. But for now, they had other things to worry about.

At least the cliffside still seemed to be pretty safe since the Grimm were mostly hiding in the forest – it had been that way last time, after all. Weiss remembered all too well how she had to carry her unconscious partner to the village after their fight with the mutated Death Stalker. If they would've encountered a pack of Creeps or the like during that time, she and her girlfriend probably wouldn't have made it back alive.

However, the group's earlier assumption was quickly proven wrong. Suddenly, a howl reached their ears, accompanied by the sound of claws scraping over the barren ground. Ash and team RWBY quickly turned to the right to face the source of noise. At the edge of the forest about two-hundred yards away from them stood a pack of Beowolves... a few of them mutated. Like the mutant Creeps, they had a purplish tint to them due to the weird liquid running through their bodies, and their bone-like plating was a little spikier than that of a normal Beowolf. The creatures looked anything but harmless as they slowly approached the group.

"Lock and load, ladies!", Ash growled and drew his weapons. Team RWBY followed suit.

"This didn't happen the last time Ruby and I took this route.", Weiss noted as she took her combat stance.

"Told ya these things had become more aggressive.", the guard captain responded dryly.

"Enough chatter.", Yang simply said and cocked her gauntlets, "Let's do this!" She could barely finish her sentence before the Grimm started charging for real.

The Atlesian Knights immediately readied their weapons the moment the creatures were within an effective range, made a few adjustments to their positioning and opened fire. Even though they weren't terribly accurate, the sheer hail of bullets easily took a few Beowolves out within a few seconds. Bringing the robots along had definitely been a good idea.

Ash and the four girls weren't idle either. At first, they used their weapons' ranged abilities to thin out the approaching creatures, but quickly changed tactics as soon as the enemy got close enough. Of course, they had to watch out not to step into the Atlesian Knight's line of fire, but since the robots were programmed not to harm anyone with an Aura (not even by accident), they simply switched targets when their human commanders got too close.

"Be careful with the mutated ones!", Ash yelled to drown out the fighting noises while emptying the magazine of his pistol into one of the purple Beowolves, "They have a _way_ _bigger_ acid splash zone than the Creeps when they die."

True to his words, the Grimm he had riddled with bullets quickly exploded into a huge burst of purplish liquid. The guard captain dodged out of the way with a dive roll and cut a normal Beowolf in half the moment he was on his feet again, igniting his sword mid-swing. Upon seeing the dangerously large area the acid could cover, Weiss, Blake, and Yang tried to be even more careful while fighting the mutant ones. Better safe than sorry...

Ruby, however, took a different approach. While she had tried to keep her distance as well at first, her fighting style got more and more reckless and risky as the fight went on. Barely bothered by the acid explosions and only dodging them in the last moment, the crimsonette used her Semblance to dash from foe to foe and slaughtered every Grimm in her way mercilessly.

Soon, she found herself surrounded by a couple of Beowolves – not that she cared. If anything, that only meant to her that there were more enemies in reach to kill. Her scythe danced around with an inhuman speed and precision and cut through the Grimm like a hot knife through a chunk of butter.

Nevertheless, her teammates quickly noticed that the crimsonette had maneuvered herself into a dangerous situation and rushed to her side to aid her. Blake was the first one who reached her. However, when the Faunus tried to cover her back, she was almost hit by Crescent Rose's curved blade.

"Ruby! Watch it!", she exclaimed as she dodged out of the way, only for her shadow clone to take the blow. This swing would've definitely depleted a good portion of her Aura. However, the black-haired girl couldn't dodge the kick that came next and almost managed to topple her over.

"Then stay out of my way or deal with the consequences!", Ruby spat before she ignored her teammate again and continued her carnage.

It was then that Blake (as well as the rest of the team who had seen and heard the exchange) decided to stay away from the younger girl for the time being.

Even though it had been a huge pack of Beowolves, the Huntresses' (and Ash's) skills combined with the support of the Atlesian Knights soon brought an end to the fight. The last two were killed by a barrage of ice bolts from Weiss and the following rifle fire that pierced through their immobilized bodies. The corpses evaporated soon after... then, there was silence.

* * *

After everyone had made sure that there weren't any Grimm left on the battlefield or lied in ambush in the nearby forest, they could finally calm down again and catch their breaths. Then, Ash, Weiss, Blake, and Yang collapsed their weapons and put them away. The Atlesian Knights remained in their combat stance for a few more seconds before they reloaded their rifles and retook their usual stance, waiting for another order.

"Whew... now that was a job and a half...", Yang panted, "Everybody okay? No injuries or the like?"

"Atlesian Knights are still twelve and the rest of us 's still standing.", Ash responded after quickly scanning the area, "Seems good enough, if ya ask me."

"Thank goodness.", the blonde sighed with relief, "Then let's get going before another batch of these monsters comes back to avenge their fallen buddies."

"Agreed.", Blake simply said, "It seems that this route isn't anywhere near as safe as we have thought. Better hurry." Weiss only nodded in agreement.

However, in the corner of her eye, the heiress suddenly noticed that her girlfriend was still standing in the middle of the battlefield, eyeing the forest and breathing heavily. The crimsonette hadn't put her weapon away yet and it didn't seem like she wanted to do so anytime soon. She was visibly shivering, which was odd since she still stood in her combat stance and her muscles had to be tensed.

"R-rose Petal?", the heiress addressed the girl carefully, "Are you alright?"

Unfortunately, unlike yesterday, she didn't get a response. It was now that the rest of her teammates noticed it, too, and worry immediately took a hold of them as well. Yet, they didn't know what to do. The white-haired girl, on the other hand, did... and slowly approached her girlfriend. Even though it was still just a theory, giving Ruby some love and affection seemed to have a soothing effect on her – it had worked a couple of times already, after all.

"Hey, Rose Petal.", Weiss whispered and pulled the younger girl into a gentle hug from behind, "Everything's alright now. We won. No need to fight anymore, so calm down again... please..."

The words had barely left her mouth before she felt her girlfriend relax into the embrace. A moment later, the crimsonette collapsed Crescent Rose and let out a deep breath. Apparently, Ruby had finally found her way back to reality. But even though accomplishing this had been pretty easy again, the heiress somehow had the feeling that her girlfriend's condition had gotten a little worse.

"Sorry...", the younger girl whispered, "K-kinda lost it again. Every time I fight... I somehow... I don't know why but..."

"Shhh...", Weiss cooed soothingly and kissed her neck softly, "We all know it's not your fault. Now let's keep going so we can cure you. Then, everything will be fine again, okay?"

"O-okay.", Ruby agreed and wriggled herself out of the embrace, "Thank you, Snowflake."

"Anytime.", Weiss responded and gave her girlfriend a warm, loving smile.

After their exchange, the younger girl put her scythe away again and she and the heiress went back to the rest of the group. Suddenly, Ruby's eyes fell on Blake and she immediately remembered what she had done during the fight. Why, for Dust's sake, would she say or do something to one of her teammates and best friends? She had to set this right again.

"B-blake...", she began apologetically and hung her head in shame, "I-I'm really, _really_ sorry for..."

"Don't sweat it.", the Faunus immediately interrupted her leader with a friendly smile, "As Weiss has already said, I know it's the illness' fault. The normal Ruby would never do something like that. We're good, so stop worrying." Then, she approached the girl and pulled her into a hug as well to emphasize what she had just said. Yang simply gave her sister a thumbs up to signalize that she completely agreed with Blake.

"Thank you so much, guys.", Ruby exclaimed with a little sob in her voice, "For dealing with me even though I'm weird and despicable at the moment."

"Don't worry, sis.", Yang said, "Whatever happens, we'll always be there for you."

"As heartwarming as I find that scene and, of course, Ruby has my full support as well...", Ash suddenly tossed in, "But we should press on. The sooner we discover the cause of these mutant creatures, the sooner we, or the scientists, respectively, can help her."

"Ash is right.", Weiss seconded, "There's no use in wasting even more time and waiting to be ambushed again. Let's go to the tunnel and look for some clues regarding the purple Grimm and their origin."

She quickly earned a nod from all of her teammates, determination apparent in their eyes. Then, the group continued their walk along the cliff.

* * *

Fortunately, they made their way to the path that led to the tunnel without another encounter. Once at the point where Ruby and Weiss had descended last time, they used their climbing equipment to access the narrow track. Even the Atlesian Knights were able to do so without any difficulties. Atlas' engineers and cyberneticists were held in high esteem quite rightly.

"Standing at the edge of a cliff has one thing in common with receiving oral from a very ugly person.", Yang joked as the group followed the slim and dangerous path, "Everything's fine as long as you don't look down."

And while Ruby, Weiss, and Blake only let out an annoyed (and slightly embarrassed) groan at the blonde's lame joke, Ash, who walked in front of them, burst into laughter.

"Haha! You call a spade a spade, Blondie!", the roared, "I like that! Do ya get a lot of detention at Beacon?"

"Depends on how you define _a lot_...", Yang responded with a grin.

"It's like I'm looking at a younger version of myself.", Ash chuckled, "But female... and sober."

"Hey, Rubes?", the blonde addressed her sister, "Could it be that this guy is somehow related to Uncle Qrow?"

"I've thought the same thing about a month ago.", the crimson-haired girl responded.

"Could you please reduce the useless chatter to a minimum?", the heiress suddenly asked, "We're about to reach the plateau with the tunnel and the last time Ruby and I have been here stirs up a lot of bad memories. We need to stay vigilant."

"I'm with Weiss on this matter.", Blake seconded, "If we encounter another one of these Death Stalker mutants and one of us gets stung just because we get caught by surprise, it'll only make everything worse. Or what if it's Ruby again? We have no idea what it'll do to her if that were to happen."

"Alright, sorry.", Yang apologized, "I'm just trying to keep our morale up here. Of course, I'm at least as worried about Ruby as you guys."

"Don't worry. I feel fine again.", the aforementioned crimsonette said, "And as soon as we find a clue about these weird Grimm's origin, I'm pretty sure Beacon's or Atlas' scientists can cure me."

Ash only nodded at that statement. Then, the group pressed on.

* * *

The path slowly got wider and wider and soon, they arrived at the plateau with the tunnel in the rock face opposite to them. However, what they saw there left them completely devastated. Nobody had even thought about this possibility – yet, it was right in front of them...

Weiss was the first one who found her voice back:

"It's... collapsed?!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger!
> 
> Well, the chapter's title says "Grim Discovery", not "Grimm Discovery", after all. Things just got a lot more complicated. Without a trace of these mutated monsters, how will team RWBY manage to save the village as well as their leader? This isn't looking good at all...
> 
> Again, sorry it took me so long to finish this chapter – first, I was concentrating too much on wrapping up my other story "How to Fake Your Way into Love", then I had too much other stuff to do and had no time to write.
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you think of this chapter in the comments and stay tuned for the next one. It looks like team RWBY needs to find another lead to those Grimm. I hope they'll manage.


	36. By the Campfire...

"No, no, no, no, no!!!", Weiss wailed and rushed to the collapsed tunnel, "This can't be true! This is our only lead!" Then, she started to move the boulders to dig the entrance free again... unsuccessfully, of course.

"Weiss, calm down.", Yang demanded, caught up with her teammate and pulled her away from the rocks. The last thing they needed at the moment was someone being crushed by another landslide.

"But what about Ruby?!", the white-haired girl exclaimed and vigorously tried to free herself from the blonde's grip, "We need to find a cure! And without the tunnel, we have to start from scratch again!"

"But digging up the entrance will take days or even weeks.", Blake tossed in, "Also, we don't know if the inside is in a similar or worse condition."

"Listen to your friends, kiddo.", Ash said as he watched Weiss struggle to get free, "Trying to clear the entrance without professional equipment or help will probably just get us killed. And I don't know what you think about that but, in my opinion, this won't accomplish anything."

"But I need to save my girlfriend!", the white-haired girl shouted while still thrashing about in the blonde's grip, "Your sister, Yang! We somehow need to..."

"Ash is right, Snowflake.", Ruby suddenly interrupted her and the heiress immediately ceased her actions and turned around to face her, "I... I know things aren't looking good at the moment and this tunnel was our only lead so far... but these mutated Grimm still roam the forest, so there has to be another one or something like that. So we should search the forest or the cliffside again instead of wasting our time here."

Upon hearing this speech, Weiss was taken aback. Even though the crimson-haired girl was struggling with a weird illness, she was still an incredibly reliable leader. And most importantly, she was absolutely right. Now was not the time to lose their nerves.

"The two of us have found the first clue about the purple Grimm.", Ruby continued, "So it should be a piece of cake to find another one now that we're five people. So please... calm down again, Snowflake. We'll find a solution. We always have, right?"

Again, the white-haired girl was pretty astonished by her partner... and herself. They seemed to have changed a lot over the past months: the childish Ruby acted all grown-up now and Weiss herself, the composed and level-headed heiress, behaved like a fool. Admittedly, she just did it because of her feelings for the crimsonette – if they won't be able to find a cure... No, she didn't even want to think about that. Failure wasn't an option!

"You're right, Rose Petal.", Weiss agreed with her girlfriend, "I'm sorry... I've lost my cool for a moment. But I'm fine again. Let's climb back up and look for another lead."

"Sounds good to me. Is everybody fine with that?", Ruby asked around and received a couple of nods, "Then let's do this. The sooner we find a clue the sooner we can save the village!" With these words, she turned around and started the walk back to their point of descent.

"Is this girl really just eighteen?", Ash asked quietly, amazed by the crimsonette's ambition and leadership skills.

"Nope.", Yang responded with a grin, popping the _P_ , "Sixteen, actually..."

"You're kidding me, right?", the guard captain said and raised an eyebrow.

"That's my sister for you.", the blonde exclaimed proudly, "Got advanced two years and is still one of our grade's top students."

"Okay... I'm pretty impressed.", Ash admitted, "Then let's do exactly what Ruby has said. Won't argue with a prodigy, after all. I had been a shitty student... but pretty good at bustin' head. That's probably the only reason they didn't kick me out of Beacon." He laughed throatily at his last statement.

"Well, I guess I really am a younger version of yourself then.", Yang said and joined him in laughter.

"Hey, are you done joking around?", Weiss suddenly scolded them since she, Blake, and Ruby had already started heading back, "As you've said this morning: We're not here for the view."

"Yeah, sorry.", the blonde quickly responded, "Coming!"

Then, the group made their way back to where they had come from. They had a lot of work ahead of them, after all. Hopefully, there was another tunnel or a new explanation for the mutated Grimm's origin somewhere near. If they won't find anything soon, then... Weiss immediately shook the devastating thoughts out of her head again. They mustn't fail! Ruby's life depended on their success!

* * *

After they had ascended the cliff again, the group continued to search the area for clues. For a start, they walked down the overhang since Ruby and Weiss had found the first tunnel this way. Unfortunately, it seemed that it had been the only one in this part of the cliffside. After about three hours of marching, they changed strategies and entered the nearby forest again. Maybe some of the mutated Grimm in there could lead them to another clue. It was only an assumption, but the best idea they had at the moment.

However, this new tactic meant that they had to fight these purple monsters again. Even though the five Huntspeople tried to be careful not to agitate them, the next encounter wasn't long in coming. Luckily, it was only a pack of Creeps and very few mutant ones, on top of that. Yet, it wasn't the threat of the Grimm the guard captain and the four girls were concerned about... but what another battle would do to Ruby.

Unfortunately, their worries were confirmed. Again, the younger girl fell into some kind of trance while fighting and started to mow down the enemy frenziedly... and everything that got in her way while doing so. Of course, she didn't attack her fellows or the Atlesian Knights on purpose but she didn't have any regards for anyone who dared to enter the range of her scythe. Ash and the rest of team RWBY quickly kept sufficient distance to the crimsonette and commanded the robots to do the same.

When the battle was finally over, Weiss immediately soothed her girlfriend again and, much to everyone's relief, succeeded in doing so rather quickly. Once more, Ruby apologized over and over for spacing out but her friends just assured her that everything was fine and they knew that she couldn't help it. It stung their hearts to see the usually happy and bubbly younger girl so ashamed of herself. However, they knew that any negative emotion only made her condition worse, so they did everything within their possibilities to keep Ruby's spirits up.

Scenes like that repeated themselves a lot during their search for another clue: Encounters, fighting, the crimsonette going berserk, Weiss calming her down afterwards, embarrassed apologies and comforting reassurances. Fortunately, the white-haired girl always managed to bring Ruby back to reality with a few soothing words and a gentle hug. At least this meant that the crimsonette's condition wasn't getting worse... for now. However, everybody knew that these weird personality changes couldn't be healthy in the long run.

The group managed to cover a good portion of the forest, yet, they didn't find anything useful. Every pack they encountered provided no information about another tunnel or the like – they just seemed to be ordinary (albeit mutant) Grimm roaming the area. It wasn't long before the sun hung low in the sky and night was approaching.

"Well, it's getting dark soon and we should look for a good place to set up camp.", Ash said, "Since we haven't found anything yet, returning to the village would be a waste of time. We're pretty far away from it anyway."

"Yup... and fighting the mutant Grimm by night in the woods on our way back is probably pretty much suicide.", Yang seconded.

"Exactly.", the guard captain responded, "So let's go back to the cliffside since it's at least a bit safer there and I doubt we'll find a suitable clearing in the forest in time. Should be easier to defend as well in case of a night-time ambush. This way, we might see the next day. No promises, though..." He said the last part with a bitter chuckle.

"Way to keep our morale up.", Weiss grumbled disdainfully and as sarcastically as possible. Especially Ruby shouldn't hear something like that in her current state.

"It's called gallows humor, kiddo.", Ash explained, "Don't get upset over a little joke. We all know that the situation is grave but not hopeless." Then, he started to walk northwards to the cliffside.

"He could've worded it a little less... depressing.", Blake noted to her white-haired teammate and followed the guard captain.

Weiss only nodded at the Faunus' statement. They won't end here. Quite the contrary: They were here to save lives... and especially one that was _very_ important, if not crucial, to the white-haired girl's very existence. There was no way that she'd let her Rose Petal down.

* * *

After marching through the forest for another thirty minutes (fortunately, without encountering any more Grimm) the group finally reached the cliffside again. Admittedly, if they would set up camp this close to the ocean, it would be a lot colder compared to the wind-protected forest, but freezing was still a better alternative than being mauled by Grimm. At least Weiss didn't mind that much about the cold. It didn't bother her excessively since she grew up in Atlas – and, on top of that, she had another pretty effective way to keep herself warm. A pretty effective, soft, and equally cuddle-needy way.

The group quickly found a suitable place and immediately set up their camp. Ruby and Yang were in charge of gathering firewood while Weiss and Blake rummaged through their backpacks to prepare dinner... well, more like just heating up their field rations. There was a reason why they had assigned the jobs that way: A razor-sharp scythe and shotgun gauntlets were more than capable of turning every tree into kindling with ease.

While the girls were busy setting up camp, Ash scanned the perimeter for any stray Grimm. Even the smallest pack near them had to be eradicated, so they won't attract more of the murderous creatures. Fortunately, the grumpy guard captain was able to fulfill his job without another encounter and returned to the camp undisturbed. It seemed that their luck had returned... for now...

Soon, they were all sitting by a crackling campfire. Now it was finally time to relax and, of course, eat their dinner. That was long overdue anyway. Fighting the whole day and running for your life could make you pretty hungry, after all.

"Wow... what a feast.", Yang sighed in annoyance, "Canned goulash with potatoes, canned lentil stew with indeterminable meat matter, canned fruit salad from the year dot... if anyone has canned vodka or canned antidepressants, I'm so up for it." Of course, the last part was only meant as a joke... mostly.

"Here you go, Blondie...", Ash said and handed her his flask with a lopsided smirk, "I hope you're over eighteen, though."

"You bet!", Yang responded. However, the moment she wanted to take it for a sip, she noticed the scolding glances from Weiss and Blake. Therefore, she decided to decline the offer.

"Umm, I guess I probably shouldn't...", the blonde explained, "We're out on a mission, after all. A pretty important one, on top of that. Probably a bad time for alcohol..."

"That's pretty grown-up.", the guard captain commended and took a heavy gulp from the flask, "I _really_ wish I were as responsible as you, kiddo."

"Are you sure you're not related to my uncle somehow?", Yang asked with a grin and raised her eyebrows.

"Pretty much...", Ash responded – it even sounded a little disgruntled. Then, he averted his gaze and grabbed a stick to poke at the campfire.

They ate their _meal_ mostly in silence. Occasionally, someone tried to get a conversation going (Yang, for the most part, since she hated the quiet), but no one else was really in the mood for talking at the moment. The canned food didn't taste as awful as they had thought, yet, it was still far from enjoyable. But then again, they were here to find a clue about the mutated Grimm, not to indulge in culinary delights.

"Well, that was... better than starving.", Blake noted dryly after she had scraped out her bowl, "If only a little..."

"As long as it serves the purpose...", Weiss simply said and put down her own dish.

"Says the girl who grew up eating lobster and truffles.", Yang teased and gave her teammate a friendly nudge with her elbow.

"Just so you know, I never relished such extravagant and luxurious cuisine.", the white-haired girl responded, "My favorite dish as a child was ordinary bilberry soup, which is pretty much poor man's food in Atlas."

"Really?", the blonde asked doubtfully. In her imagination, Weiss had always been a spoiled, little rich girl.

"Yup. I was a _weird Schnee_ on that score.", the heiress continued with a small giggle, "My parents scolded me a lot for _slurping like a savage_ as well back then. I adopted my snobby attitude much later."

"Aww... my Snowflake had a sweet tooth as a child, just like me.", Ruby cheered and pulled her girlfriend into a one-armed hug.

"I doubt that anybody has a sweet tooth like _you_ , Rose Petal.", Weiss responded but returned the hug nonetheless.

Upon seeing this sweet scene, Yang and Blake couldn't help but smile. Even Ash nodded appreciatively and mumbled something about "being young and in love" with a melancholically sigh.

The group sat in silence by the campfire for a while and enjoyed a little peace and quiet after their exhausting day. Weapons were checked and cleaned, tales were told and jokes were cracked. For about half an hour, everyone basked in an artificially created contentment, barely enough (and, of course, necessary) to keep a Huntsman or Huntress sane on a harsh mission, before they allowed reality to take a hold of them again.

"Well, as much as I'm enjoying myself and the hilarious stories at the moment...", the guard captain half-grumbled and half-chuckled, "Food fight... could've been my idea... Anyway, I guess we should hit the hay so we can continue our search early tomorrow. I need my beauty rest... desperately, hehe. Any volunteers for the first watch?"

"Umm... why do we need a night watch when we have the Atlesian Knights?", Weiss asked confused. Wasn't the advantage of the robots that they didn't need sleep, unlike them?

"As much as these things have proven themselves to me this day...", the black-haired man began, "...there are some things I'd rather have actual people do. What if the Knights go into standby at night... or what if their battery dies? Even though that's probably highly unlikely, as long as there is a possibility for that to happen, I want someone for the job I can really rely on. I hope that makes at least a little sense. The other option in this worst-case scenario would be getting killed in our sleep by a pack of mutated Grimm, after all..."

Unfortunately, the young Huntresses-in-training had to admit that their far more experienced companion had a point. Even though these robots were state-of-the-art Atlesian technology, they couldn't be careful enough... especially against an unknown type of Grimm.

"I'll take the first watch.", Ruby suddenly said, stood up and unfolded Crescent Rose, determination glowing in her eyes.

"Then I'll take the second one.", Weiss quickly added. The shift after her girlfriend's was probably the best choice if they wanted to sleep and cuddle together tonight... probably something the crimsonette was in dire need of, given her current condition.

"Dibs on the last.", Yang immediately announced after the white-haired girl's statement. Everybody knew that the watches in the middle were the worst. The second one wasn't as bad since one was probably still awake after an adventurous day but the third was already pretty crappy. There was nothing worse than being woken up again after finally having been able to fall asleep.

"I'll take the shittiest third, then.", Ash grumbled, "Since I know a bigger part of these woods inside out, you probably need a proper rest more than I do anyway."

"Well, I guess that leaves the fourth for me.", Blake concluded.

"Alright. Watch's duration is an hour and a half.", the guard captain explained, "If you notice anything Grimm-like near camp, immediately alarm the others. No mavericks. This applies to Ruby in particular since, at the moment, she tends to... well, y'know."

"Got it.", the crimson-haired girl simply replied, "But I guess the gunfire of the Atlesian Knights will wake you up anyway. Platoon: Guard duty." Then, she took her guard post at the edge of the camp. The robots followed suit.

"Okay. Let's hit the hay.", Ash said and unfolded his bedroll, "Tomorrow's gonna be as exhausting as today. But as long as we find any clue, I don't mind this." With these words, he laid down, stretched and got comfortable... well, as comfortable as possible, given the hard, cold ground.

"I guess he's right.", Blake agreed and set up her sleeping mat as well, "We're going to need any rest we can get." The other girls only nodded.

* * *

Of course, Weiss wasn't able to fall asleep. It made little sense since she had to relieve Ruby from guard duty in a pretty short time anyway. However, the real reason why the white-haired girl couldn't find any sleep was that she was still worried sick about her Rose Petal. And as much as she tried to push the depressing thoughts out of her mind, they always returned as quickly as they had left.

What if tomorrow's search won't provide any results as well? What if it was impossible to cure her girlfriend? Ruby would continue to change... mentally... maybe even physically... until nothing remained of the cute, quirky, loving girl Weiss had fallen in love with. The heiress tried to stifle her sobs to avoid disturbing and worrying her teammates. She had to be strong. For her team and, most importantly, for Ruby.

Weiss' body went as stiff as a board the moment she felt a hand on her shoulder, gently shaking her.

"Sorry, Snowflake...", came a soft, barely audible whisper, "I didn't mean to startle you. It's your turn to watch over the camp."

The heiress quickly used her sleeve to wipe away her tears – fortunately, she was lying with her back to her girlfriend – and stood up. She faked a yawn and a stretch since Ruby mustn't know that she had been awake all the time and especially why this had been the case. Then, hoping her eyes weren't too puffy from crying, she turned around.

"Thank you, Rose Petal.", Weiss whispered back and gave her girlfriend a soft kiss on the lips, "You can take my sleeping mat. It's already preheated. And in an hour and a half, I'll keep you warm as well."

"Sounds amazing.", the crimsonette breathed, "Now I wish I could advance time."

"Just try to sleep and it will pass faster.", the white-haired girl suggested, "And before you know it, I'm snuggled up to you again. Good night, Rose Petal." With these words, she began walking towards the edge of the camp.

"I love you, Snowflake.", Ruby responded and laid down on Weiss' sleeping mat, "Be careful."

* * *

On the bright side, the white-haired girl's shift went by completely uneventful – no Grimm attack, no Grimm anywhere near the camp, not even one Grimm-like shadow in the distant forest. On the down side, this circumstance gave Weiss a lot of time to continue worrying about Ruby. Even worse, now that she had to concentrate on her duty, she couldn't really focus on pushing her concerns to the back of her mind.

Even if they found another tunnel, what would await them inside? Something incredibly dangerous, that was for sure. Furthermore, whatever it was that caused the Grimm to mutate, could it be retrieved that easily? Was it something natural, or something man-made, like the first tunnel? Was it just a coincidence that the tunnel had been artificial? Or was there a connection? Was someone experimenting with Grimm again? Team RWBY had fought a mad scientist before, after all. But Doctor Merlot had been killed in his lab's explosion...

Or what if they couldn't retrieve or even find the cause of the mutation? Then, they had no other choice but to capture one of those purple monsters to discover a cure for Ruby. And that would most certainly be even more dangerous than the first option.

A soft buzz in her pocket suddenly reminded her that her shift was over.

'Time sure flies by when you have a lot on your mind...', the heiress sighed inwardly and returned to the camp. However, what she saw there didn't exactly calm her down.

Ruby was lying on her bedroll, apparently asleep. Yet, she looked anything but relaxed. Quite the contrary: Just like a few days ago, her body was trembling and her breathing was heavy and uneven. It was obvious that her Grimm illness was taking a toll on her again. She was suffering... Seeing that almost broke the white-haired girl's heart. Furthermore, besides her poor Rose Petal's pitiful condition, Weiss noticed another thing...

Yang, who was lying next to Ruby, was holding her hand. It was now that Weiss perceived that she was awake as well... and probably hadn't slept the whole time, either. The blonde's face was full of worry as she watched over her sister protectively, running her thumb up and down the back of the younger girl's hand to try and somehow calm her down. When she noticed the heiress' return, she looked up and their eyes met. Obviously, Yang had been shedding quite a few tears as well.

"Hey...", the blonde whispered with a lump in her throat, "Didn't know my sister now comes with vibrate mode." She forced herself to smile at her futile attempt to lighten the grim mood, yet, it didn't reach her eyes. It was the first time she was seeing Ruby like that, after all.

"I know...", Weiss whispered back and returned the fake smile, "Just an error in the operating system... we'll fix that."

"Yeah...", Yang responded, "Absolutely. Even if we have to work overtime." It was now that both girls let out an almost honest giggle at their lame jokes.

"You've seen her like that before, right?", the blonde suddenly asked sniveling, "That's why you're not as whiny as I am."

"Believe me, I'm anything but composed at the moment.", Weiss responded and stifled a sob, "And it doesn't get any better the more often you see her that way..." Then, she laid down behind her girlfriend and wrapped her arms around her carefully, so she won't wake her up.

"It's just...", Yang began and averted her gaze, "I feel so useless because I can't help her right now. I always think about what could've been if I would've been there that day. When she got stung... Could I've saved her? But on the other hand... I know what these missions are like, especially when you encounter something _that_ dangerous and unknown. I know it wasn't anyone's fault. I just... I'm so mad at myself and this Grimm and everything at the moment."

"Me, too...", the white-haired girl sighed, "I still think that it was my fault that Ruby got stung by this Grimm... I know that's not the case since it was an unknown enemy, we had a plan, we took the risks that came with it and all that... but... I couldn't have known better at that time but in the end, it was my failure that had caused all of that. I messed up, Ruby had to save me, got infected because of my futility and now we don't even know if there's a way to..."

"Shhh...", the blonde interrupted her softly, "Don't you dare say something like that about my sister's girlfriend. She's a good one and anybody who badmouths her is going to taste my fist."

"Well, if she managed to impress such an overprotective sister like you, she doesn't seem _that_ bad, huh?", Weiss asked. She pulled her girlfriend even closer at that statement and suddenly, the crimsonette's shivering subsided a bit.

"Yeah, she's pretty cool...", Yang explained and, for the first time this night, an honest smile appeared on her face, "But don't ever tell her that. Her head's big enough as it is."

"Don't worry, I won't.", the white-haired girl responded and now it was her turn to smile, "But you should tell her herself. I'm pretty sure it would mean the world to her."

"I think she knows.", the brawler said and squeezed her sister's hand, which coaxed out a cute, puppy-like sigh out of the girl, "She had become pretty good at handling people. Especially Ruby."

"It's the only thing I can think of to help her somehow.", Weiss explained, suddenly ending their little third-person game, "The only thing that makes me feel any less useless at the moment. Everything we can do for my Rose Petal at the moment is to love her and to be there for her." With these words, she pulled the younger girl even closer and kissed her neck gently. Shortly after, as if it was magic, Ruby's trembling suddenly stopped and, with a content exhale, she relaxed completely into the heiress' embrace and continued to sleep soundly.

"Thank you.", Yang whispered, "You're really the best girlfriend she could ever wish for."

"Even though I'm just eighteen years old, I already know that she's the love of my life.", Weiss proclaimed, dead serious, "Nothing will ever change that. Not even a stupid, accursed, unknown Grimm illness. We'll save her, I promise. We... we have to..."

"Even if it kills us.", the blonde completed what her teammate was thinking – with a determination that left no room for any doubt. Suddenly, there was a meaningful silence between both girls. It seemed that their love for Ruby (in their own, specific ways) somehow bonded them together.

"Well...", the white-haired girl said and started to untangle herself from her girlfriend, "I guess I have to tell Ash that it's his turn now. The Atlesian Knights were still functioning properly when I've left but I know he doesn't want to rely on these machines when it comes..."

"Oh no, you won't move.", Yang interrupted her, "You stay by my sister's side so she can rest properly and without... whatever she's suffering from right now. I'll take over Ash's shift and he can have the last one. I'm awake anyway so there's no need to deny the old man his well-earned rest." Then, the blonde gave her sister's hand a last, gentle squeeze and stood up.

"Thanks, Yang.", Weiss whispered, "For trusting me with your sister... and everything else. It... _really_ means the world to me. To Ruby as well, I'm sure of it."

"Don't sweat it.", the blonde simply responded, "If you get all sentimental now, I'm gonna lose the last bit of respect I have for the wrathful and intimidating Ice Queen."

"There's no _Ice Queen_ anymore.", the heiress explained and snuggled up even closer to her girlfriend, "Ruby has thawed her." This statement earned her an appreciative nod from her teammate. Then, Yang made her way towards the edge of the camp.

"Oh, and Weiss...", the blonde suddenly said in a reproachful tone and turned around again, "Please don't try to slip one in. We're sleeping next to you, after all."

"Wha... n-no... I...", the heiress stammered, her face a deep crimson and completely flabbergasted at the sudden and unexpected statement – especially after their former, friendly exchange. However, a shit-eating grin soon appeared on Yang's face, and Weiss suddenly realized that the blonde was only teasing her like always... and she had taken the bait again.

"Urgh... You're insufferable, Yang Xiao Long.", the heiress grumbled and buried her head in the crook of Ruby's neck to avoid eye contact with her annoying teammate – of course, not without planting a soft kiss to her girlfriend's soft skin. Although Weiss had gotten a lot more resistant to Yang's stupid jokes, there were rare times when they still managed to catch her by surprise. Even worse, now the white-haired girl was suddenly well aware of the soft and warm butt that was pressed into her groin.

"Still got it.", the brawler snickered to herself as she took her guard post.

Weiss quickly shook all of the inappropriate thoughts about Ruby out of her mind (and there were a lot...) and tried to get a snatch of sleep. She gently kissed the back of the younger girl's neck again and earned a soft, appreciative hum from her in the process. However, even though talking to Yang had soothed her, the heiress was still worried sick about her Rose Petal. Not even holding the girl at the moment could prevent the terrible what-ifs from entering Weiss' mind again.

She couldn't lose Ruby! This girl was the best thing that had ever happened to her. If they couldn't save her, then... A tear came to Weiss' eye as she pulled her girlfriend even closer to her body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Ruby... and Weiss... and Yang... and pretty much everyone. What a way to end this chapter, despite the blonde trying to lighten up the mood with one of her teases. Hopefully, team RWBY will find another lead soon so Ruby can be cured.
> 
> At least there was a pretty sweet scene between Weiss and Yang. It seems that the blonde has finally fully accepted the formerly Ice Queen as her sister's girlfriend. That's something, right? A little progress? Despite the fact that this chapter was pretty uneventful otherwise? Yeah, I know... I'm just making up excuses here...
> 
> Anyway, as always, let me know what you think about this chapter. And don't worry. The next one is probably going to be a little more adventurous and plot-advancing... That's all I'm saying for now. Stay tuned!


	37. The Forest's Darkest Secret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens, guys. Team RWBY and Ash are finally going to find out what this whole mutated Grimm stuff is all about. We've come this far... time to end this arc... slowly.
> 
> Sorry for the late update. I wanted to post this chapter last weekend, but damn... my last few weeks had been crazy. Private stuff... job stuff... nothing that's probably interesting you. I'm just trying to explain myself here.

"Alright, girls. Time to wake up. We have a lot of investigating to do today! Get ready. I'll be right back."

Weiss was woken from her slumber by a rough, yet not unfriendly voice accompanied by a wisp of crisp morning air. She groaned sleepily and tried to shake off her drowsiness. The mattress was hard and uncomfortable, yet, she was holding onto something incredibly soft and warm. It was now that the heiress realized what was going on: They were on a mission, she was sleeping on the ground, and currently, she was cuddling with her girlfriend.

Even though duty called, getting up was the last thing the white-haired girl wanted to do at the moment. She didn't feel well rested at all. And, on top of that, getting up would mean she had to untangle herself from Ruby – this alone was unbearable enough. However, Weiss knew she had to let go eventually. They were here to find a cure for her beloved Rose Petal, after all. After that was taken care of, she and her girlfriend could cuddle all they want as soon as they were back at Beacon.

Unfortunately, the crimsonette didn't want to follow the given instructions just yet either. Instead, she let out a weary sigh and wriggled closer to her lover, desperate for even more contact. It was obvious that getting up right now wasn't considered an acceptable option by Ruby, too.

Suddenly, Weiss was well aware of her girlfriend's soft butt that was pressed into her groin... as well as she was cupping one of the crimsonette's breasts – her hand seemed to have moved on its own in her sleep. The white-haired girl already felt a tingling sensation inside of her stomach that slowly crept downwards to... Okay, that was bad. Now was by far the worst time for a morning wood. However, a certain part of her body seemed to disagree. She quickly pulled her hand away and tried to turn her hips to the side.

"Hey, Weiss.", another voice suddenly addressed her, "I know you don't want to let go of her, but we have to get going."

The white-haired girl lifted her head up and her eyes met Yang's. The blonde had an equally weary expression on her face but still managed to give her a warm smile. Then, she crawled a bit closer to the couple and gently ruffled Ruby's hair.

"Rise and shine, little sis.", she said softly and earned an annoyed groan from the younger girl, "Time to get your antidote."

Upon hearing this, Ruby's eyes slowly opened. The black tint to the veins in their corners caught Yang by surprise for a moment, but she quickly shook it off. Now wasn't the time to worry any longer. They were here to fix her sister, after all.

"There she is.", the blonde noted with a smug grin, much to her sister's annoyance, "Come on, Rubes. Quick breakfast and back to work."

"I guess begging for five more minutes would avail to nothing, am I right?", the crimsonette yawned.

"Exactly.", Yang replied with a grin, "Now get up, sis. You too, Weissicle."

"Well, five minutes won't be of any use anyway...", Ruby sighed and shot a seductive glance at her girlfriend over her shoulder, "We'd need _waaay_ longer, after all."

"Rose Petal! I've told you not to joke about stuff like that.", Weiss exclaimed and started to blush a bit while Yang gave them a somewhat annoyed look. Upon the crimsonette's statement, the heiress felt a throb in her groin, probably powerful enough for even Ruby to notice, as her growing extra appendage started to strain her panties a bit. She immediately backed away a few inches and forced herself to think of asexual thoughts.

"Yeah, Ruby... too much information.", Blake noted sleepily and raised from her bedroll, "But other than that... respect, Weiss."

"You stop it, too.", the white-haired groaned annoyed as she tried to get her weird, hermaphrodite hormones under control, "Please..."

"Anyway, we need to get up. Yang's right.", Ruby said and staggered to her feet, but then, she was taken aback for a moment, "Wow... Now I get Weiss. This really sounds strange to say."

"Hey!", the blonde exclaimed grumpily, "Not funny, sis. We don't need another Weiss. It'll be annoying enough when you two reproduce someday." Her last statement didn't help the heiress' current situation at all.

"Sorry...", the crimson-haired girl apologized, "It's just weird that you're already burning for action _that_ early in the morning. Normally, you nee d at least three alarms to wake up before eight o'clock... unless we have sparring class at nine."

"Well, I just want to find a cure for my beloved sister as fast as possible.", Yang explained matter-of-factly, "And a Grimm-busting mission is just one big sparring class anyway. So let's get going already. Same goes for you, Princess."

"Umm... I... I need another minute.", Weiss said while her face got a little redder. She had rolled onto her stomach to conceal the otherwise probably visible small tent in her skirt – fortunately, her annoying penis seemed to have understood that now was an incredibly bad time to get fully erect. That didn't stop it to remain at least halfway _ready_ , though.

"What's the matter?", the blonde asked but realization soon hit her and a teasing grin appeared on her face, "Having any problems with your little... Schnee-cret?"

"What's a Schnee-cret?", a rough voice suddenly addressed them. The four girls turned around only to see Ash returning to camp after scouting the area before their departure.

"Nothing!", Yang and Weiss quickly answered in unison. Despite the blonde really liked to tease the heiress, she knew that nobody else must know about her little extra until the white-haired girl was ready to tell them herself... And despite the guard captain seemed to be a kind soul, they barely knew him, after all.

"Well then, move it.", Ash commanded, not overly unfriendly, yet determined, "If we waste any more time, the warranty of our Atlesian Knights expires." He chuckled deeply at his last remark.

"O-of course. I'm on it.", Weiss said, stood up and started to gather her belongings. She made sure to always face away from the black-haired man until her mismatching anatomy would've calmed down. Fortunately, her semi-erect member wasn't visible at all – it was now that she realized how much of a blessing a tulle skirt was.

Yang even mumbled a barely audible apology to the white-haired girl. Even though the jokes and teases were always in good fun, the blonde knew that she had taken it a little too far this time, given their current situation. Blake just gave Weiss a reassuring nod. Ruby, however, was oblivious to the whole scenario.

* * *

After a quick breakfast, only consisting of instant porridge and canned fruit, the group dismantled their camp and stowed everything useful away for further use. They didn't know how long they would be exploring the forest before they had found a clue, after all. Soon, they were ready to go and moved out to get their job done.

Again, they were searching the forest for some kind of lead – a pretty difficult task since they had no exact idea of what they were actually looking for. The area near the village didn't seem to provide any information at all, so the four girls and the guard captain strayed further and further from it. Strangely enough, they didn't encounter any mutated Grimm, or any Grimm at all, the whole day. Everything was completely peaceful and, for some reason, it felt wrong... and suspicious.

"Geez... and here I thought Patch's woods were annoyingly expansive.", Yang sighed as they marched through the forest, "But _that_ takes the cake."

"Well, this place isn't a secluded island, after all.", Blake tossed in, "But don't you think it's weird that we haven't encountered any Grimm so far? I mean, yesterday we stumbled from one fight into another." Her teammates only nodded.

"Damn... I can't even remember the last time I went that far away from Nave.", Ash pondered, "This forest really is a lot larger than I thought. But then again, I'm gettin' old... and I'm pretty sure all the booze didn't do my brain cells any good."

"Then how about you just stop drinking?", Weiss asked cockily, "That would be beneficial for all of us."

"Be a Huntsman or a guard captain for a few decades and talk to me again, Princess.", the black-haired man responded with a grin, "We all need a bit of stress relief from time to time. Not all of us are lucky enough to land themselves a cute girlfriend that takes care of that." Upon this statement, Weiss blushed in a deep red while Ruby simply started to giggle awkwardly and looked away from the group.

"Don't get me wrong, kiddo. I didn't want to offend you. Quite the contrary.", Ash continued with a nostalgic chuckle, "I'm really happy for you two. With all my heart. Love's bliss is the most beautiful thing in the world, after all. Well, I guess.. barely remember it anymore... Now, an old geezer like me only has his liquor. My days of meaningless flings are over long-since as well. And now, retrospectively, that time of my life just seems... sad."

"Wow... Suddenly, I get a whole different picture of Uncle Qrow...", Yang whispered to her sister, "And it's kind of depressing."

Ruby only nodded in agreement. It wasn't a secret that their uncle was pretty lonely... despite (or maybe because) being an incredibly skilled Huntsman. Thank goodness she had her Snowflake – and, spurred on by that thought, Ruby pulled Weiss into a quick embrace and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. The white-haired girl was a little surprised by her girlfriend's sudden actions, yet, she melted into the chaste peck, her worries suddenly forgotten... however, only for as long as the kiss lasted.

Of course, this was still Ruby – thinking otherwise was ridiculous. But then again, Weiss also knew that there was something else inside of her girlfriend at the moment... and pushing that out of her mind was impossible. Nevertheless, she couldn't fall into depression. They were here to fix Ruby, after all. And whatever fate would throw at Weiss... at them... they would find a cure for the cute, crimson-haired girl... there wasn't any other acceptable option.

* * *

The group continued to investigate the woods and the nearby cliffside until it was late afternoon. However, they didn't find anything useful no matter how thoroughly they looked for clues. In addition, everything remained completely calm – not a single Grimm crossed their path as if the creatures were trying to avoid them.

If things stayed as they were at the moment, it would be impossible to discover a cure... one way or the other. Weiss was starting to lose hope, yet, she tried to not let it show. They NEEDED to find something! For Ruby! However, it seemed that nothing in this crappy forest was of any use...

That was until they unexpectedly stumbled upon a hill - and a pretty big one at that. Okay... all in all, it looked like an ordinary rise in the ground... and yet, it kinda felt... out of place. The area had always been pretty plain everywhere they had gone so far, and now there was this elevation in the near distance all of a sudden. Ash addressed it first.

"Now that's odd...", he suddenly noted and furrowed his eyebrows, "Admittedly, I wasn't in this chunk of the forest for a long time... if ever, this thing's pretty huge, after all. But I don't remember any part of the woods bein' this hilly. Especially that close to the coastline."

"Huh? It sure seems weird.", Blake agreed, "I mean, it's just this single one... like, in the whole forest. And I'm pretty sure this has nothing to do with tectonics. It almost seems like this area was... artificially created."

"Like this strange tunnel by the cliffside!", Ruby tossed in, "Do you think there's a connection or something?"

"Could be a possibility.", Ash grumbled, "Maybe some kind of den or nest built by unknown Grimm. Let's take a closer look... but stay on guard! Everything even slightly odd in these woods gives me the creeps ever since the purple abominations showed up. Could just be persecution mania, but better safe than sorry."

The team slowly approached the odd and out of place hill, yet, it still seemed just like an ordinary slope. Trees, ferns, moss, rocks... despite the unbefitting rise in the ground nothing else besides the thing itself was suspicious in any way. There also were no Grimm as far as the eye could see – which contradicted the theory of this place being some kind of nest.

"I think we are getting a little paranoid.", Weiss mentioned calmly, "Everything here looks pretty normal to me. Maybe we just indulge in wishful thinking because we haven't found anything else yet." Of course, it exasperated her inwardly that they hadn't gotten any closer to Ruby's cure as well – but the hill seemed to be just a hill, after all.

However, if only to prove her wrong, the group suddenly heard a terrifying howl incredibly close to them. Barely a second later, a mutant Beowolf appeared seemingly out of nowhere and lunged at the white-haired girl. But where did it come from? The area had been completely void of a single lifeform, after all. Everyone was too shocked at the moment to react.

Well, everyone besides Ruby. The crimsonette quickly and unceremoniously shoved her girlfriend out of the way and to safety, unfolded her scythe in the process and cut the creature in half lengthwise with a single, powerful strike. The younger girl's hate-filled battle cry was loud enough to cause a ringing in everyone's ears, accompanied by two feelings: respect... and fear.

Both halves of the shredded Beowolf slammed into the ground a few yards behind the crimson-haired leader before the corpse exploded in a burst of purple acid. Nevertheless, Ruby didn't spare a single glance at or thought for the Grimm. The heiress suddenly remembered a phrase she had heard Yang recite sometimes while watching action movies: Cool guys don't look at explosions.

"T-thank you, Rose Petal.", Weiss croaked out, still shivering a little from the sudden surprise attack, her hand on Myrtenaster – yet, she knew that she probably wouldn't have been fast enough to parry the blow.

However, when the white-haired girl looked at her lover, she immediately realized that her acknowledgments had fallen on deaf ears. Ruby still had a wrathful expression on her face and was breathing heavily... it almost sounded like growling. Fortunately, the crimsonette soon screwed up her eyes and shook her head before she let out an exhausted sigh and her body relaxed again. Then, she turned around to her girlfriend and gave her a beaming smile – as if her freak-out didn't happen at all. Of course, Weiss returned the gesture... yet, she couldn't completely hide the worry on her face, no matter how hard she tried. It had happened again... and fast this time.

"Where the FUCKING hell did this thing come from?!", Yang exclaimed completely flabbergasted, "Umm... sorry 'bout the language. But... SERIOUSLY?! That Grimm appeared out of thin air. Or am I going bonkers? Damn it... I thought I'd still have a year until that happens."

"If ya have gone mad, then I have, too.", Ash responded, "That bastard _really_ came out of nowhere. There were no Grimm 'round us at all. Something's fishy here."

"Well, I'd say _fishy_ is exactly what we are looking for.", Weiss said after the earlier shock had passed, "If we can find out where this weird Grimm came from... or why it was suddenly just _there_ , to be more precise... I'm pretty sure we get a step closer to discover something about these mutants."

"But how _did_ this thing appear out of nowhere?", Yang asked and looked around, "I mean, a Beowolf, especially one of these mutated ones, is a little bit too big to simply hide behind... dunno... this tree stump, for example." To emphasize her point, she sent a shot to the aforementioned trunk.

Then, something odd happened:

A loud, metallic bang echoed through the entire forest. A split second later, the blonde's projectile glanced off the stump and slammed into another tree as a ricochet. Team RWBY and Ash quickly threw themselves on the ground the moment it happened.

"What. In. Hell?!", Yang exclaimed as soon as the noises had died down.

"Are you trying to get us killed?", Blake scolded her partner, "This isn't one of your video games. Friendly fire is active all the time."

"How could I've known that the shot won't turn this thing into splinters?!", the blonde responded annoyed, "Wood is supposed to break under shotgun shells!"

"Calm down again, everyone!", Ash suddenly tossed in, "Obviously, this isn't a regular tree stump. Did you hear the noise? Sounded like metal or somethin'."

In an instant, the group was back on their feet. They walked over to the stump and took a closer look. It looked completely ordinary, though: old, a little rotten, and overrun with moss. However, when the guard captain knocked on it with his sword, the same metallic sound (this time considerably quieter) was heard. Also, it seemed like there was some kind of hatch.

"What the heck is this thing?", Ash asked, mostly to himself. He pushed the tip of his sword into the notch and prized the _stump_ open. What came into view next was probably the most confusing thing everyone had seen so far.

"Looks like some sort of device.", Weiss pondered aloud while looking over the control panel and its wide variety of switches, knobs, and gauges, "But what does it do exactly? And why is it here in the middle of nowhere, masked as a tree stump?"

"Don't know.", the guard captain said, "But I'm completely sure it has something to do with these mutated Grimm. Good thing we found it."

"Wow. I'm a genius.", Yang exclaimed proudly, "And you scolded me for unveiling this mystery for us, kitty cat."

"Dumb luck, that's all.", the Faunus huffed and crossed her arms.

"Stop it, you two!", Ruby grumbled a little miffed.

"S-sorry...", both of her teammates quickly responded. It was now that Blake and Yang remembered that (even though their little quarrels weren't completely serious) their leader was currently pretty prone to negative emotions around her and reacted accordingly.

"Could we _please_ concentrate on our objective again?", Weiss demande d, incredibly motivated again now that they had finally found something useful, "Obviously, this strange device is somehow tied to the weird things that are going on in this area. If we can uncover its purpose, then we'll probably find out something about these mutant Grimm... and maybe how to cure Ruby's condition."

"I agree with whitey-locks here.", Ash backed her up (something the heiress appreciated, even though she frowned upon the nickname a little), "Something weird and pretty dangerous is going on here. Someone... or something... must be behind this creepy technology."

"Then what do you think is this device's purpose? Any ideas?", Blake asked, "I highly doubt that it simply mutates the Grimm through radio waves."

"I guess you're right about that.", the guard captain said and continued to study the weird device, "But this thing isn't here for nothing."

As fate would have it, the tree Yang's shot had accidentally hit suddenly came down. It fell towards the hill and, without any warning, the top... disappeared. Everyone watched this weird scenario in wonder – it was almost like it was swallowed by something invisible. The trunk remained lying on the ground, yet, half of the tree seemed to be... nowhere.

"Well... I know all the spooky ghost movies Yang made me watch were fake...", Ruby said confused, "But this really happened right now, right?" Her teammates only nodded astonished. What in Dust's sake was going on here?

"I knew it. This ain't no ordinary hill.", Ash grumbled, "This whole mission just gets weirder and weirder."

The team slowly went towards the hill until they were at the point where the tree had been _cut off_. Ash quickly picked up a rock and threw it into the hill's peak's direction. Much to the surprise of everyone, it simply disappeared a few feet away from them. Something was definitely not right about this place.

"Okay... as creepy as everything seems at the moment...", Yang suddenly explained, "But I think we just have found a portal to another dimension!"

"Don't be ridiculous.", Weiss responded, even though she was just as confused as the rest of her team, "I'm pretty sure there has to be a scientific explanation to..."

"I'm going in!", Ruby suddenly exclaimed and, without a warning, she stepped through this weird barrier. It was like she was swallowed by a wall of water.

"Ruby! Wait!", Weiss exclaimed in panic and followed suit, not giving any damn about the consequences.

"Hey!", her teammates yelled and hurried after them. Ash was barely a yard behind, drawing his sword and pistol in the process.

But what happened then was something all of them could never have imagined: The landscape suddenly... changed right in front of them.

* * *

"A... stealth field?", Weiss noted in disbelief.

However, there wasn't any other explanation. The hill and the usual forest that had been in front of them a few seconds ago had been replaced with a valley. It was a cauldron, only accessible from where they were standing at the moment, pretty low ground, almost like a sinkhole, the walls around them bold and rugged. Yet, this wasn't even the weirdest part. No: That would be, without a doubt, the gigantic metal gate built into the _wall_ directly opposite to them.

"Guys... I think we found the source of whatever weird stuff is going on in this forest.", Yang said astonished, "Also, am I the only one who expected... I dunno... _anything but this_?!" Of course, the last part sounded incredibly sarcastic.

"Why is there a giant gate in the middle of nowhere?", Blake asked confused, "And who the hell built that thing?" Their earlier conversation about the first, obviously artificial tunnel her teammates had found was called back to her mind.

"Only one way to find out.", Ruby simply responded and took a few steps towards the valley.

Unfortunately, this was a bad idea. It was now that everyone noticed the heavy automatic cannons lining the gate... because they suddenly came to life with a loud, mechanic whirr. The best phrase to describe them would probably be _absolutely lethal_.

"RUBY! WATCH OUT!", Weiss yelled and cast a few defensive glyphs to protect her girlfriend.

"ON IT! GET DOWN, TEAM!", the crimsonette exclaimed. With these words, team RWBY and Ash quickly dove behind anything they could find as cover: Fallen trees, rocks, earthwork... anything to survive the upcoming bombardment. But...

It never came. Instead, as if the whole situation wasn't weird enough already, another whirring sound echoed over the place, accompanied by a green light barrier, as some kind of sensor scanned the area. A few seconds after this, the automatic cannons went into standby again and the mechanical noises died down completely.

The four girls and the guard captain remained under cover a few more moments but soon, they realized that nothing seemed to happen anymore. Carefully, they stood up again and observed the defense turrets – apparently, their programming didn't consider them a threat anymore, for whatever reason. Again, the "Why, for fuck's sake?!", as Yang or Ash would put it, hung unspoken in the limbo.

"Seems like these things won't attack us, after all.", Ruby noted, "Now the only question left is... why that's the case?" Then, she slowly approached the gate.

"Please be careful, Rose Petal.", Weiss almost begged. She could never forgive herself if her girlfriend were about to get injured on her watch... again.

The rest of team RWBY as well as Ash followed Ruby and took a few, hesitant steps towards the gate. This way, they could at least try and protect the crimsonette in case the cannons would still open fire. And, of course, they were curious about the metal structure. Why in hell was something like this built in the middle of a deserted forest?

Again, the weird scanning device sprang to live the moment Ruby stood right in front of it. The crimsonette immediately took her combat stance, ready to either attack something or to cheese it. The sensor scanned the young girl once more, the weird, green light creeping over every inch of her body, before it shut down again. After that, nothing else happened for a while...

Then, the gate suddenly opened.

* * *

Everyone stood there in disbelief as the gigantic metal doors slid to the side. A sparsely lit corridor was revealed, giving the impression of some kind of abandoned, yet still powered military base or laboratory or the like. Neither of them had any idea why this facility was granting them entrance or what would await them inside. But one thing was certain: Considering their mission, whatever laid behind these doors was promising... and dangerous.

"Okay, now everything that's missing is a sign that reads "Obvious trap. Come and meet your doom" above this thing, am I right?", Yang said sarcastically.

"Well, it's not that we have much of a choice.", Blake suddenly mentioned, "This gate and everything tied to it is, most certainly, the biggest lead we can find regarding these mutant Grimm."

"But why did it open right before us?", Weiss asked carefully, "It's almost like this weird facility wants us to enter. This is _very_ questionable."

"Well, as I've said before... there's only one way to find out.", Ruby said, determination apparent in her silver eyes, "We haven't come this far to back down now, right? The village needs us and... I need some answers, too." After saying this, the crimson-haired girl ogled her team expectantly.

"Yeah!", Yang seconded, full of zest for action, "All aboard!"

"Right!", Blake agreed as well.

"Let's do this!", Ash growled with a grim grin.

Then, Ruby's eyes fell on her girlfriend. Weiss, however, seemed to hesitate... out of obvious reasons, of course. The last time they had investigated a place like that, her Rose Petal had been injured really bad and, on top of that, had gotten infected with a horrible Grimm illness. And now they were going right into the lion's den?! That couldn't end well.

But on the other hand, this was probably the only lead they would find... probably the only way to find a cure for Ruby. The crimsonette's condition seemed to get worse by the hour, therefore, waiting for even more backup or postponing the mission until they had gathered more information about this weird facility was not an option. There wasn't any other choice: If she wanted to save the girl that was her everything, now was the time for action!

"Rose Petal...", Weiss said, with a determination she had never felt before, "Whatever happens... I will follow you to the ends of Remnant."

"Awesome.", Ruby responded with a grin, "Because it looks like that's where we're heading."

With these words, team RWBY's leader turned around, unfolded her scythe again, and made her way through the gate and into the unknown. Her teammates, Ash and the Atlesian Knights followed suit.

There was no turning back now. It was going to end here... one way, or the other!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so it begins... the search for the mutant Grimm's origin. Somewhere inside of this facility must be the answers team RWBY is looking for... and probably the only way to find a cure for Ruby.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and are anticipating more. The next update will probably take a while again since the story is going to get pretty complicated now and I only have the key points plotted out so far. But don't worry – there's no way I'm going to abandon this story now that we're so close to... whoa, close one. Not gonna spill anything here^^ Stay tuned for the next chapter.


	38. Below the Surface

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And another chapter finished... a kinda short one and mostly dialogue and explanations, but still... Sometimes you need these as well. It's mostly for the people who haven't played Grimm Eclipse, so I thought at least a little more input would be necessary. But don't worry: The action is about to start soon. Enjoy!

Everything about this situation was utterly surreal: Why the hell did something like this facility exist in the middle of an unkempt forest? And why didn't the defensive turrets attack them? And, most importantly: Why, in all of Dust's sake, did the gate open right in front of them? These questions crossed the four girls' and the guard captain's mind while they made their way through the dimly lit, descending corridor and deeper into this... whatever it was...

Well, the word _corridor_ was a tremendous understatement – _hangar_ would be a more appropriate expression. It was huge, easily wide and high enough for two Bullheads to fit through. Maybe this facility was really an abandoned military base, after all.

Team RWBY and Ash were highly alert, weapons ready all the time, as they made their way downwards. They didn't bother of keeping quiet, though – the heavy footsteps of the Atlesian Knights echoed clearly through the hall. Maybe the next generation of the robots would come with a sneak option... these ones obviously didn't and weren't reacting to any commands in that regard.

"Okay, whoever built that thing had a looot of free time.", Ash noted, "Or many, many little helpers."

"You mean Grimm?", Ruby asked confused.

"Unlikely...", the guard captain responded with a chuckle, "I guess Grimm aren't pretty good at welding, don't you think?"

"Okay, I get it... Ruby said something stupid again.", the crimson-haired girl sighed grumpily.

"Easy there, kiddo.", Ash appeased her, "It was just a little joke to lighten the mood. I didn't mean to offend you. We're cool, right?"

The crimsonette just gave her comrade a reassuring nod and a friendly smile and shook the negativity out of her mind again. With this, the matter was settled for Ash and Ruby... but not for her girlfriend. Weiss immediately grabbed the old man by his arm and pulled him to the side.

"Could you stop your stupid jokes already?!", she whispered, a lot harsher than necessary, "I know you mean no harm by it, but Ruby's mental health isn't exactly at it's best at the moment."

"Hey, what's with the whispering?", Yang asked and added with a grin, "Are you bitching about us?"

"Of course not.", the heiress quickly explained, "I just told Ash that now is not the time for unnecessary jokes. A lecture you probably know by heart by now."

"As a matter of fact, I do.", the blonde responded with another smug grin, "That doesn't mean I'll ever _take_ it to heart, though."

"Unfortunately, I'm well aware of that fact.", Weiss sighed. Yang's terrible puns would probably haunt her forever.

"Enough chatter.", Blake said seriously, "I think we're about to reach the end of the corridor... and there's another one of these big, metal gates ahead." The raven-haired girl's pupils suddenly widened and shortly after it seemed like her whole eyeball was shining in an amber light.

"Wow, you're amazing.", Ruby complimented her teammate, "I can't see the end yet. Faunus eyes are really something awesome."

"And there aren't any turrets. That's a relief.", Ash suddenly said, and upon his comrades' confused glance he added, "What? You don't need to be a Faunus to have excellent night vision. My awesome eyes saved my team on more than one occasion back then."

"Well, I'm not exactly visually handicapped either, but I can't see shit at the moment.", Yang noted dryly, "Would it've killed the architect of this dump to add a few more ceiling lights? Or at least brighter ones?"

"You can ask them if we meet them along the way.", Weiss responded irritated and with a hint of sarcasm, "We'll make sure that the next military bunker or whatever this place is we infiltrate has better illumination just for you."

"Stop it already!", the crimson-haired girl suddenly gnarled, but quickly regained her composure, "S-sorry, just... don't fight, okay? I hate it when you don't get along."

"Sorry, Sis / Rose Petal.", Yang and Weiss immediately apologized in unison and suppressed the urge to facepalm themselves. How could they've been so stupid?

They knew that Ruby reacted incredibly sensitive to the mood around her at the moment, so pointless quarreling was the last thing she needed. Luckily, she had recovered pretty quickly this time again – but it hadn't been necessary to stress her that much in the first place. Yang and Weiss knew that all of them needed to remain calm and collected and control their own emotions despite the creepy and uneasy atmosphere – for Ruby! Her leader's sanity depended on them!

* * *

The group progressed about a hundred yards until even Ruby, Weiss and Yang were able to see the heavy gate that laid in front of them. It was pretty similar to the one they had already overcome – yet, as promised, there weren't any defensive turrets set up. However, this time, the doors didn't budge a single inch...

"Well, I guess that's a dead end...", Ruby sighed, "Darn it! And we've come so far."

"How about we just crack this one open?", Yang suggested and cracked her knuckles, her gauntlets flaring up, "Would be a pity if our journey ends here, after all, am I right?!"

"Have you seen how massive the first gate was?", Weiss intervened, "I highly doubt that we'll be able to open up this gate with brute force." Of course, the white-haired girl hated to be the voice of reason – since there was no one else who wanted to save the crimsonette as much as her.

"We won't be any wiser if we don't try, Weissicle!", Yang gnarled with a determined (and somewhat frightening) grin and readied Ember Celica.

However, there was no need for it. Just like before, some weird scanning device sprang to life and screened the whole corridor with a strange, green light barrier. After that, the machine on top of the gate died down and the heavy doors slid aside again. Needless to say, it left the four girls as well as Ash completely dumbfounded. The Atlesian Knights remained absolutely motionless behind them.

"Okay...", Blake noted dryly, yet concerned, "Now that's even more suspicious than our encounter with the first gate." Her teammates were sure that, if their Faunus friend would possess a cat's tail, it would probably be completely puffed up by now. They felt the same, after all...

"Well, maybe this facility is completely abandoned, yet powered, after all.", Weiss suddenly noted, "Even though I have no idea why it is granting us entrance that easily."

"Do you think we're already below sea level?", Ruby asked carefully as she gazed into the darkness in front of them.

"Probably...", Ash responded thoughtfully, "But whatever we're searching for... it's most certainly behind these doors."

"Maybe the door scanner thingies react to everything because of a malfunction.", the crimson-haired girl pondered, "Even Grimm... and that's why it's their new nest now."

"Alright! Flashlights ready!", Yang suddenly announced, full of energy, "If we have to investigate an old, abandoned tunnel of a scary military base slash Grimm hideout for the sake of my sis, then so be it! Am I right, Weissy?!"

"Absolutely!", the white-haired girl immediately responded and dug up a couple of flashlights out of their backpacks, "There's nothing I won't do for my beloved Rose Petal!" It was now that the heiress realized that she had no problem with admitting her relationship with her partner anymore in front of other people. The crimson-haired girl was her soulmate and she didn't care who knew about it. After all of this was over, she would've no problem to shout it from Beacon's rooftops if her girlfriend was fine with that. Weiss loved the crimsonette to death and she didn't give a single damn about what others might think anymore.

"Alright, team!", Ruby exclaimed and turned on her pocket lamp, "Let's go investigating!" With these words, she made her way into the obscure tunnel.

However, their flashlights weren't necessary anymore the moment they passed the gate. Almost immediately, the wall and ceiling lamps flickered on as soon as Ruby set a foot into the next corridor. Team RWBY and the guard captain quickly put away their lights and readied their weapons again... awaiting another threat.

* * *

"What in hell?!", Yang gnarled and gazed over the newly illuminated place. Her teammates and Ash did the same. What they saw left them completely speechless...

There were a few yards of artificial walkway, but after that, they were faced with a huge cave. It even was incredibly hard to tell if it was of natural origin. Admittedly, the walls, the ceiling, and the ground were pretty rough and looked naturally formed, but then again, it was kind of unlikely that such an enormous grotto had formed that close to the ocean without getting flooded already.

The greater part of the cave was illuminated by some weird, shining crystals. Unfortunately, no one here was a geologist, so they had no idea what these things exactly were. However, they didn't look like they seemed to be tied to the Grimm's mutations. That didn't make this place any less suspicious, though. And weren't there... some kind of pipelines in the back?

Okay, even if this cavern had been there before this weird base slash laboratory slash whatever, someone had definitely messed around with it already.

"Guys...", Yang noted dryly, "Is it just me or is anybody else here getting the weirdest kind of déjà vu?"

"It almost looks like this strange facility on Dr. Merlot's island...", Blake pondered.

"Without any green goo, though...", Ruby added contemplatively.

"But Dr. Merlot died in the explosion of his lab.", Weiss suddenly tossed in, "And even _if_ he had survived somehow, which I highly doubt, it is pretty much impossible that he could've built another weird research facility that quickly... or that he had already built another one in reserve before he lost his lab on his island."

"Umm... excuse my curiosity...", Ash piped up, "But who or what is a Doctor Merlot?"

"For all we know is that he was some weirdo researcher with an unhealthy obsession towards Grimm.", Yang explained casually, "He had created some nasty, _green_ , mutant, exploding things we and our friends had to get waaay too familiar with..."

"Sounds like you went through some hell of a first year at Beacon.", the guard captain noted with a chuckle.

"It's not as simple as my teammate has put it.", Weiss corrected, "Dr. Merlot was once a well-renowned scientist and researcher as well as the founder of _Merlot Industries_ , a corporation which was incredibly guiding in the fields of artificial intelligence and genetics. Back then, the main facility was located in the ill-fated settlement of Mountain Glenn. And, apparently, his research played no small part in the destruction of this expansion of Vale since they started to experiment on live Grimm at one point... needless to say, with disastrous results..."

"Whoa... sounds like some pretty nasty bastard...", Ash said with a recognizing whistle, "And probably that kind of guy responsible for this mess. Or maybe his fellows... Would most certainly feel amazin' to rip out the spine of somebody who's responsible for these abominations." He said the last part with a somewhat frightening bared-teeth display... kind of comprehensible, given the fact how much his village had suffered from the mutant Grimm attacks.

"Well, it's not that easy.", the white-haired girl continued, "All we know so far is that Dr. Merlot had been completely on his own after the collapse of his lab in Mountain Glenn. And, furthermore, that he died after he blew up his own lab on the island where his new research facility had been located. No one had found a body in the heap of ruins so far, though... But I'm pretty sure that nothing had survived the explosion. We barely made it out alive ourselves that day."

"The pilot of the Bullhead that pulled us out was either incredibly brave, suicidal, or a complete lunatic.", Blake added.

"Or D: All of the above.", Yang quickly said with a grin. Not many people had the guts to fly an airship into a small, burning and collapsing corridor, after all.

"Umm... excuse me.", Ruby suddenly interrupted her teammates, "Don't get me wrong, nobody likes to walk down memory lane more than I do... but I thought we're here to find a cure for my weird illness."

"O-of course.", the blonde and the Faunus replied in unison, "Sorry."

"Long story short: Even though this place looks pretty much like Dr. Merlot could be behind it, there are many factors that contradicts with this hypothesis.", Weiss finished her explanation to Ash, "Which still begs the questions of who's behind this weird facility. And it also implies that there's someone else out there who had the insane idea of experimenting on Grimm. This is pretty disturbing, to say at least."

"Would totally suck if this is becoming a new trend.", Ash noted bitterly, "Genius lunatics trying to mutate Grimm for whatever reason – what a time to be alive, eh?" The last part was spoken with a fair amount of sarcasm.

"The reason, at least in Dr. Merlot's case, was a pretty simple one.", the heiress continued, "He believed that the creatures of Grimm were a superior species and scientifically misunderstood. His plan was to gain knowledge about them and change them for _good_... whatever good comes around when you make these things even more deadly than they already are."

"What a freak...", the guard captain noted dryly, "Good thing this guy is counting worms now."

"Not exactly a silver lining since there's obviously someone else who follows in his steps.", Blake tossed in, "And whoever it is, they seem to be even more intelligent and dangerous than Dr. Merlot, given their creations."

"Maybe they somehow obtained Merlot's research papers or something like that.", Yang pondered, "And now they continue his weird science stuff in his place."

"But the lab was secret and all the information were classified.", Weiss remarked, "Anyway, thinking about this stuff won't bring us any closer to our goal. We're not here to dig up a conspiracy. We're trying to find a cure for Ruby. Everything else comes later."

"Right!", Blake, Yang, and Ash agreed.

With this in thought, the group made their way through the cave. Hopefully, they would find what they were looking for soon... and without encountering too many mutant Grimm. Ruby's mental composition wasn't at it's best at the moment, after all.

* * *

Even though the cave had appeared pretty large while looking at it from the outside, it seemed to be even larger while walking through it. Fortunately, and opposite to Dr. Merlot's lab on his weird island, they didn't have to look out for weird puddles of caustic green goo, which made their journey a lot more comfortable. The weird crystals were radiating an odd warmth, but they didn't seem to be harmful. Besides these geological constructs and the apparently inactive pipelines in the back, the cave was completely void of anything.

Well, that wasn't entirely true... During their walk through the cavern, team RWBY and Ash noticed several metallic hatches built into the side of the stone walls. And even though all of them were closed and looked a little dusty and rusty, they made them feel uneasy. An ambush could await them anytime, after all. This place was anything but safe!

"I wonder what these things are for...", Ruby pondered while letting her gaze wander over the weird, massive gates.

"If this place is anything like Merlot's lab, they're probably for releasing Grimm into this area.", Weiss answered dryly while carefully caressing the grip of her Dust rapier.

"Better keep our guard up then.", Yang suggested, "The last time I was ambushed by exploding acid Grimm they've ruined my best leather jacket. It's been almost a year but I still mourn it... *sniff* so young..."

"Good thing you've sorted out your priorities.", Blake responded with a smug grin.

Upon hearing this, Ruby let out a small chuckle – which caused Weiss to smile as well. Apparently, her girlfriend could still differentiate between a joke and a quarrel... sometimes. Yet, they had to be careful. The crimsonette was still incredibly sensitive to the mood around her.

After a few minutes of walking, they reached the end of the cave – and were yet faced with another heavy metal door. However, it didn't deny them entrance for long. Again, a weird scanner felt them up but, as the last times, the heavy doors slowly slid open without hesitation. Behind them laid some kind of platform with a key panel attached to one of the railings. The resounding echoes of the Atlesian Knights' footsteps made clear that this was some kind of elevator shaft.

"Well, I guess we don't have much of a choice but to take this route.", Yang said with a shrug, "I'm pretty sure that this thing will function as intended as well, even though I don't see any other scanners. At worst, we have to go back and look for another way."

"Sounds reasonable.", Weiss seconded, "Yet, I'm kind of... umm... nothing, let's go."

At the heiress' last, broken off statement, the rest of her team raised an eyebrow in unison. The white-haired girl tried to play it off by giving them a reassuring smile and a confident nod. Of course, she couldn't tell her friends and the guard captain what was worrying her: What if this elevator would take them down but there was no option of getting back up again?

No, there was no way she would cast doubts or fear. They were here to save her Rose Petal, after all... even if it would kill them. There was no time to worry about that kind of stuff if it kept them from accomplishing their goal. Ruby's well-being had to be her top priority.

"Okay... ready, ladies?", Ash asked, "We may be stuck down there after we take this elevator. Last time to back out."

'This idiot said it out loud?!', the heiress thought irritated.

"No way I won't back down!", Yang quickly responded, "I'm gonna save my baby sis, come hell or high water!"

"I won't let one of my best friends and leader down, either!", Blake seconded, "No matter what's going to await us! Bring it on!"

"Very well...", Ash said with a determined grin, "What about you, whitey-locks?"

"The question alone insults me to my very core!", Weiss responded and shared a glance with her girlfriend, "I would give my life to save my precious Rose Petal! She had done the same for me already! On more than one occasion!" Upon hearing this, Ruby blushed a bit while a scared, yet somewhat moved expression covered her face.

"Alright!", the black-haired guard captain grumbled and approached the platform, "Here goes nothing."

Team RWBY and the dozen Atlesian Knights followed suit. Barely a second later, the elevator sprang to life (as expected) and took them down the shaft. An oddly familiar phrase had often crossed Weiss' mind during the last days, but this time it had something even more absolute:

'There's no turning back now! We'll save Ruby or die trying!'

* * *

The descent took a long time – seconds soon became minutes. Admittedly, the elevator wasn't _that_ fast, but still. Neither of them spoke a word during the ride. How deep would this platform take them? 500 feet below sea level? A thousand? Maybe even deeper? How deep had they've gotten already before they had boarded this lift? And why the hell did somebody built such a facility that deep below the ground?!

Unconsciously, Weiss' hand searched for Ruby's, found it and immediately intertwined their fingers. The heiress hated herself for showing this kind of weakness – it was her girlfriend who should be scared of the whole situation, after all. Nevertheless, the crimson-haired girl seemed to understand her Snowflake's troubles. Therefore, she gave Weiss a reassuring squeeze and even went so far to plant a soft kiss on her cheek. This was enough to allow the white-haired girl to relax again... if only a bit.

Without a warning, the elevator came to a halt... and a pretty rough one, so to speak. The Atlesian Knights weren't affected by that at all since they had probably locked their joints, but the humans of the task force had a hard time to keep their footing. Then, everything went quiet again.

In front of them was another pretty huge metal gate. Luckily, there weren't any turrets again. Another scanner screened them... however, this time, the doors remained shut. Team RWBY and Ash waited for some time in the hope that something would eventually happen, but after a couple of minutes, it didn't seem that this weird facility was granting them further access.

"Huh... now, this is strange...", Ruby pondered while ogling the gate curiously, "And here I thought any safety protocols of this bunker or whatever were broken."

"Seems like you were mistaken.", Ash grumbled, "Kinda shitty after we've come this far. Maybe there's another way... or, well, if not..." He cracked his neck and ground his teeth.

"These doors are probably pretty thick.", Blake mentioned, "As said before, I highly doubt that we can break them open by brute force."

"Never say never.", Yang said, "If this is what it takes to get to the bottom of these mutants' origin, I'm willing to try. Haven't gotten my chance earlier, after all."

The five Huntspeople waited another couple of minutes but there wasn't any kind of reaction from the gate. Admittedly, the weird scanning device sprang to life once more, yet, the doors didn't budge. Was this really the end of their journey already? They had a mission to accomplish, after all. Weiss' mind soon went berserk with every possible scenario: from cracking the door open themselves (like Ash and Yang had suggested) to finding another way deeper into the facility. The option to simply give up didn't cross her mind a single time, though... She was about to speak up, until...

"Okay, if I won't find out what the FUCK is going on here in the next five seconds, I'm getting seriously pissed off!", Yang gnarled and cocked her gauntlets, apparently ready to blast the door open herself, "Get ready for another couple of ricochets! I won't promise anything!"

However, before the blonde could do something stupid, something odd happened. Without a warning, the scanner's light barrier appeared once more... but before it was even done screening them, a voice echoed through the elevator shaft. It sounded pretty artificial, like something mostly computer-generated... but the moment it addressed them, well, at least team RWBY, it seemed oddly familiar.

"Well, hello there, students... Long time no see..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand... the big reveal... well, kind of. At least there's a human behind all of this. But then again, it's not certain who the voice addressing them belongs to. I know that a lot of you have some assumptions, but remember: nothing's always as it seems.
> 
> Nevertheless, I'm pretty proud of this cliffhanger (one of my best, if I do say so myself (I sound like Port, damn it...)). Anyway, things are going to get a lot more adventurous, confusing, and most certainly dangerous from now on. I hope you're ready for this...
> 
> By the way, it is stated on the RWBY wiki that everything that happened in Grimm Eclipse is canon with the show continuity (it takes place somewhere between volume 2 and 3). And since my story begins a lot later, I can use the Merlot incident without having any inconsistencies. Clever LCS^^
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, even though not much happened. Let me know what you think in the comments and, as always, stay tuned for the next one!


	39. I Know You Can Hear Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... here we are: Far below sea level, in a weird, creepy laboratory, and a strange voice just addressed our heroes. Who could it be? What will await team RWBY? And will they be able to find a cure for the crimson-haired girl? Let's find out!

"What the...", Yang managed to croak out.

"How?", Blake asked confused.

"This can't be.", Weiss noted.

"Huh?", Ruby simply responded.

"Seeing y'all reacting that way, I have a bad feeling about this.", Ash tossed in.

For a moment, everyone just stood there in disbelief. This couldn't be happening. The four girls knew exactly who was speaking to them, yet, that was completely impossible. Or it should be, at the very least.

"What a weird coincidence.", the robotic voice said, "A weird but a welcome one, nonetheless."

"How did you... You're...", Weiss stammered completely dumbfounded, "I mean... your lab, the explosion... W-why are you here? What is this place?"

"So I guess this is this Merlot guy you've been talking about.", the guard captain assumed, "The one that we shouldn't be able to meet anymore..."

"I sense some confusion amongst you.", the scientist's distorted voice continued, "Allow me to explain: What you're seeing here is Merlot Industries two-point-oh, simply spoken. This facility was built long before the... unlucky incident on my island, so there's no need to be surprised about its complexity. Admittedly, a pretty tough project, yet, it was pretty obvious that the construction was a necessary step. Since my research was... _is_ incredibly misunderstood, I knew it was only a matter of time before the first laboratory was discovered by the opponents of scientific progress... and that its eventual destruction, one way or the other, was inevitable. A shame, though... I was just about to initiate the next step of evolution. A new serum, a perfect specimen... But then, you mercilessly slaughtered him. Have you no heart?"

"That's a pretty twisted point of view since we're most likely talking about a mutant Grimm, am I right?", Ash noted dryly.

"And who are you again?", Dr. Merlot asked disinterested, "Not that it matters anyway."

"The name's Ash Ivory.", the black-haired man growled, "I'm the guard captain of the village your abominations are constantly terrorizing. Nice to meet you and I'm looking forward to _crushing every fucking bone_ in your pathetic body."

"Oh, my... aren't you a rude, little fella.", the speakers responded, "However, I am very sorry to inform you that it won't be quite possible to carry out your _incredibly frightening_ threat, regardless of my... current condition..."

"The fuck you're talking 'bout?", Ash asked grumpily.

"Well... the most obvious answer to this question would be the simple fact that I won't allow your pathetic squad to reach my quarters no matter how nicely you ask.", Dr. Merlot mocked them, yet, he maintained his polite tone, "And I highly doubt that you will ever reach them on your own with brawn alone. But then again, that would only matter if my physical body wouldn't still be lying somewhere on this deserted island, scattered around and busy being bone char..."

Upon hearing this statement, everyone's eyes went wide. What did the mad scientist mean by this? Had he gotten even crazier than before?

"Again, confusion... And once more, it is up to me to broaden your horizon.", the voice sighed, "But don't worry, I'm going to use simple words."

"Could you just stop mocking us and get to the point?", Yang asked annoyedly, "We're kinda in a hurry here. Geez..."

"My sincerest apologies, Miss Xiao Long.", Dr. Merlot said sarcastically, then, he began his explanation, "You see, the human brain and a computer share a lot of similarities. Scientists are researching this for ages now in an attempt to technically reconstruct the powers of our minds. We know this as _artificial intelligence_... or _machine intelligence_ – I'm almost sure you've already heard of the term."

"This butthead just can't stop, can he?", the blonde whispered and ground her teeth in anger.

"I can hear everything you're saying, you know.", Dr. Merlot remarked and continued, "But moving on: Due to the progress in this branch of research, mankind was able to create and improve all the technologies that made modern life as we know it possible... from fully automatic machines in the factories to autonomically acting android servants. I even heard that the Atlesian military had started to try producing robots who were able to generate Aura a few years ago. I don't know how it turned out, though, since I kind of lost interest in it after a while. It wasn't important to _my_ research anyway."

As the scientist rambled on about artificial intelligence, the four girls and the guard captain slowly lost their patience. However, for some reason, they were certain that this was what Merlot wanted – either testing them or (probably more likely) anger them on purpose. Unfortunately, it seemed to work pretty well. In the corner of their eyes, Weiss and Blake saw that Yang was already balling her fists and looked around for the source of the annoying voice they had to listen to at the moment. But then...

"But I went off topic.", Merlot's computer voice suddenly announced, "While I still wanted to decipher all the secrets and capabilities of artificial intelligence, I also... let my gaze wander into the other direction. When we were able to gift machines the powers of the human mind... was it possible to transfer a human mind into a machine? Or maybe another kind of artificial system? Maybe one without a need for a physical hull? Could it be possible to accomplish that? The spirit... the very soul of a man, his consciousness in all its complexity, crammed into a self-sustaining and constantly evolving nexus of wires, connectors, and circuit boards? The answer... is yes!"

Even though the five people in the elevator shaft had already expected something like this, they were still completely taken aback upon hearing it out loud.

"So... the conclusion of this rather long-winded tale...", Dr. Merlot finished with a grim solemnity, "Here I am: Reborn... omnipresent... and, finally, eternal! A pretty impressive accomplishment, if I do say so myself."

"H-how is that possible?", Weiss managed to croak out. The concept of the entirety of a living being completely reduced to ones and zeros was completely unimaginable to her. And, given her four companions' still stunned expressions, she knew that her teammates and Ash felt the same way.

"I won't bore you with the details.", the disembodied voice answered, "Let's just say I wrote a little program, made a few experiments, and used my robotic implants to ensure that my mind was transferred to the aforementioned nexus the moment my physical hull was crushed. Now that I think about it... it wasn't very nice of you to force me into killing myself..."

"We didn't force you to do anything!", Yang growled, obviously not very pleased by the fact that Merlot ascribed that they had driven him into suicide (it had been his own fault, after all), "We would've taken you captive. YOU FUCKER blew up the lab and tried to take us with you! If anything, we're the victims here!"

"Now, now... let us stop with the finger-pointing and let bygones be bygones.", the scientist tried to appease the blonde, obviously sarcastically, "Luckily for you, I'm a peaceable companion and don't hold any grudges. I have already forgiven you, dear students. Especially now, since you went through all the trouble only to... bring me something of such a great value." Everybody noticed the shift in his tone upon the last sentence... and it made their hair stand on end.

"What do you mean by...", Weiss asked annoyedly, but then it hit her and she went even paler than usual, "R-ruby..."

"Precisely.", Dr. Merlot said and the heiress could swear she could _hear_ his evil grin, "As expected of such a diligent student as yourself, Miss Schnee." He obviously had all of their backgrounds checked...

However, this wasn't what made the four girls as well as Ash stare at each other in utter disbelief. It was the fact that Merlot wanted Ruby... for whatever reason... and that he was the one behind this weird illness in the first place.

"What?", the scientist's voice boomed with manic laughter, "Did you really think the doors and the elevator just took you down here out of pure goodwill?! Preposterous, hahaha! I AM this facility. I control every circuit, every gate, and every hatch in this complex. I wanted you exactly where you are at the moment. Admittedly, not all of you, but that's a problem easily taken care of."

"What do you want from my sister, you monster!", Yang growled furiously and her eyes immediately changed color.

"Please, calm down, Miss Xiao Long.", the robotic voice continued in a calmer tone, "It seems I owe you _one_ _more_ explanation, even though I thought it would be obvious by now. You see, Miss Rose carries something within her, something fascinating, something... _POWERFUL!_ Excuse me, I got carried away. What I wanted to say is that this girl currently inherits the cornerstone to my life's work, so to speak. The essence of a _Grimm_... finally merged with a soul-possessing body. But I guess that's what the doctors in charge of her had already found out, am I right? But... luckily... this is only the beginning!"

"Why did you do this to her?", Blake asked angrily, "Why would anyone do this to another person?"

"To save the world maybe?", Dr. Merlot asked back as if it was obvious, "To... improve the human race? To eliminate all of both species' weaknesses by merging them together to create godlike beings, superior to both their forefathers in every way? Conscious, resourceful, yet determined and dominant... the best of both... and chosen to rise above all... But that's just a guess, my dear..."

"You're insane.", Weiss hissed and every fiber of her body burned with a blazing hatred she had never felt before, "You're a despicable, delusional, psychotic madman!"

"That's what the common folk says about every genius they won't and can't understand.", the scientist continued nonchalantly, "Nevertheless, thank you for guiding her here... and, first and foremost, to show me that such a fine specimen finally came into being. I must admit, I've never thought that one of my magnificent creations would find and infect a human so fast... and that this exact human would come into my lab all by herself. Anyway, a lot of work awaits me... if you would hand over Miss Rose now and then just show yourselves out, that would be great."

"As if!", Yang and Weiss both yelled in unison.

"I regret to inform you that you don't have much of a choice here.", Dr. Merlot explained in a melodic tone (well, as melodic as his new artificial voice allowed), "How do you think you can get out of here again without my assistance? But since I'm a very generous man, I'll make you an offer: You're going to commit Miss Rose to my care without any resistance, then you are free to go. I won't harm you and I won't send any Grimm after you. You can trust me on this. You and your ridiculously small knowledge of this place are irrelevant to me. This laboratory is gigantic, so even if you want to return with an army to storm the place, this tunnel will already be closed forever."

It was now that the group realized that they were indeed trapped in this place. But, of course, that didn't make handing over Ruby a considerable option by any means. Also, at the moment, their top priority was finding a cure for the younger girl's condition. They could worry about a way out later. For now, they had to progress deeper into the laboratory.

"I should mention that this is a one-time offer and will be off the table in... let's say five minutes.", the mad scientist continued, "If you or your leader don't cooperate, I could still send my Grimm or my android army to take care of the matter. The only reason you are still alive is because I am such a kind-hearted person. I can even promise you to not harm a single hair on our precious little Rose's head. After all, she's a one-of-a-kind specimen... well, for now..."

"And here I thought you were a _genius_.", Weiss said, still angry but this time with a fair amount of sarcasm as well, "But since you made such an incredibly ridiculous and obviously unacceptable request and still assume the answer might be _yes_ , I guess you're just a deranged lunatic."

"Exactly!", Yang seconded, "There's no way we would even think about abandoning Ruby. We'll always have her back."

"There's nothing else I can add to this!", Blake agreed with a fierce determination in her voice.

"Ditto!", Ash simply added and cracked his neck.

Upon hearing this, Ruby couldn't help but smile a little. Even though she could somehow feel a lot of negative emotions around her (mostly anger and fear), the love and care of her friends still overshadowed these. It gave the younger girl a warm feeling in her chest... and was probably the only reason she was able to remain sane so far.

"Well, then...", Dr. Merlot noted dryly, "I guess we have to do this the hard way, after all. Not that it will avert my victory anyway. Come and meet your doom, students..."

With these words, the elevator doors opened.

* * *

Again, the sight in front of them left Team RWBY and Ash completely speechless. The moment the gate had completely opened, they were faced with the bottom of a huge, underground ravine. It was about twenty yards wide, however, its length wasn't assessable. The ravine was pretty dark, but a couple of dim lights lined the rough, stone walls. Beneath them, there were the same hatches they had already seen in the first cave.

The group strode down a short metal walkway and a couple of stairs, then, they set foot on the ground. From here, the ravine seemed even larger – especially its depth. They couldn't even see the ceiling. Just how far had this forsaken elevator taken them?

"Impressive, am I right?", Dr. Merlot's computer voice asked proudly, "This place was especially suited for a hidden facility because of the grand amount of underground caves. It had saved me... well, my androids a lot of time since there was no need to dig all the tunnels by themselves."

Team RWBY and Ash tried not to pay any attention to him as they made their way through the cavern. This place was already creepy enough, even without a mad scientist playing tour guide. They didn't have the time nor the nerve to listen to this lunatic anyway – they were awaiting the promised threat, after all... and they didn't have to wait very long.

Suddenly, red warning lights flashed up above each of the hatches and a siren started to blare... for whatever reason since this facility didn't house any human beings. However, this could only mean...

"Well, then... how about a little warm-up at first?", Dr. Merlot announced sadistically, "It would be a _real shame_ if some of you already die on the first encounter, after all. Also, observing some fights may even give me some ideas on how to improve my beautiful beasts in the future. Now that I think about it, maybe taking this route wasn't such a bad thing, after all. Try your best, chums."

"Wow... I've never thought that I would pity Grimm someday.", Blake said and readied Gambol Shroud, "I mean, I know they are negativity personalized... but being sent to death by a mad scientist just because this lunatic wants to play a little is something no creature deserves."

"Save your pity for another time, kitty-cat.", Yang remarked and cocked her gauntlets, "Here they come!" And, as if this had been the command the Grimm had waited for, the hatches suddenly opened and a pack of mutant Creeps flooded the ravine.

"Happy hunting, folks. Try not to get molten.", Ash roared, set his sword ablaze and threw himself into the fray.

"Watch out for the acid explosions.", Blake added and followed suit. Yang wasn't far behind her, oddly enough without a witty remark.

"Ready, Snowflake?", Ruby asked with a determined grin and raised her eyebrows in anticipation.

"I was ready yesterday, Rose Petal!", Weiss simply responded and returned the smile. With these words, the two lovers drew their weapons as well and joined their friends.

In his onrush, Ash quickly cut two Creeps in half and dodged the respective acid explosions with cat-like reflexes. Barely a second later, another creature fell by a bullet from his pistol. Then, the guard captain took a few steps back since two other mutant Grimm lunged at him. Fortunately, he could rely on his backup.

A few shotgun shells from Yang (way more than necessary) shredded the first of the purple creatures that were about to attack Ash. A salvo of Gambol Shroud eliminated the second one quickly after. The rest of the pack was hindered in their approach by a barrage of ice bolts and a couple precisely fired sniper rounds.

In the meantime, the Atlesian Knights fired at everything Grimm-like that tried to attack their human commanders. Unfortunately, the ravine was kinda narrow and their superiors were moving around pretty quickly, so their efficiency was limited. As long as there was a human being near their line of fire, they ceased their attacks immediately and waited for another opportunity to strike without any risk of hurting anything besides the mutated creatures.

"Damn it! There are way too many Grimm and way too less space!", Ash yelled while slashing a Creep and shooting another one, "This way, our robot backup isn't of any use at all."

"We need to thin out their numbers and regroup!", Blake announced, "This way, we can rely more on our weapons' ranged capabilities and let the Knights do the rest. Less risk for everybody."

However, before they could put this plan into action, a fierce battle cry was heard and a cluster of rose petals rushed past them. The next two things they saw were a red cape and a humongous scythe that was twirled around as if it was weightless. After that, acid explosions... a whole bunch of acid explosions. Obviously, Ruby had fallen back into her illness-caused battle trance.

The rest of team RWBY, as well as the guard captain, quickly changed their strategy: Now, their first priority was to support the crimsonette with some suppressive fire. The Atlesian Knights were deemed pretty useless by now: they would barely fire a single shot since Ruby was bouncing around between the enemies and it was completely impossible to tell the younger girl to cease her actions in her current state.

Not that Ruby didn't compensate for the Knights' inactivity: She seemed to be everywhere at once, mercilessly slaughtering a couple of Grimm with a single swing and quickly using her Semblance to dash away, not really to dodge the acid explosions but rather to eradicate another group of Creeps. All the while, her companions tried to get rid of the Grimm that tried to attack her from behind. However, this wasn't exactly easy. Since it was impossible to predict where Ruby would appear next after killing her previous opponents, they had to choose their targets very carefully so they won't send the crimsonette into a purple acid rain.

Nevertheless, it seemed that Dr. Merlot hadn't been lying when he had said that this would just be a warm-up. The enemies' numbers dwindled rapidly while their reinforcements became less and less. It wasn't long until every hatch inside of the ravine had been closed again and the five Huntspeople got rid of the last Creep. Of course, it was Ruby who killed the creature, accompanied by a hate-filled howl.

"DIE, SCUM!", the crimsonette yelled wrathfully, her almost deafening voice echoing through the cave for a long time. It chilled her fellows to the bone, yet, they tried to hide it. Then, everything went silent again.

"All o' you still in one piece?", Ash asked around and scanned his companions for any injuries.

"N-not dead yet.", Yang responded while trying to catch her breath. Despite the fact that their enemies had just been mutated Creeps, it had been a serious battle nonetheless.

"Does this apply to everybody else besides the blonde loudmouth?", the guard captain added jokingly and earned a couple of nods from Weiss and Blake, as well as an approving yet crude grunt from Ruby, "Whew... thank goodness. First hurdle taken, I guess."

He then counted the Atlesian Knights and was pleased to note that none of the robots had been destroyed or damaged during the fight as well. Blake and Yang were simply enjoying their breather, reloaded their weapons and dusted themselves off. Weiss, however, had other priorities.

"Ruby...", the heiress addressed her girlfriend carefully.

"I-I'm fine.", the crimsonette quickly grumbled under heavy breathing, "I'm... s-still me." She took another couple of deep breaths and shook the thoughts about carnage and violence out of her head. The younger girl knew that she couldn't allow herself to lose control now – not after they had come this far and no matter how sinister her thoughts had become...

* * *

"Well done, students.", Dr. Merlot's voice suddenly echoed through the ravine, "But then again, as promised, this was just the warm-up. How about you venture a little deeper into my humble laboratory... since there obviously is something you want from me as well... May I guess what it is you're looking for? Maybe I can be of help." He just couldn't stop with his sarcasm.

"As if it isn't obvious why we are here.", Blake said disdainfully.

"I know, I know.", the scientist sighed, "But even though I highly doubt that Miss Rose's condition is that easily curable, I still can't allow you to acquire a sample of my serum for whatever scientists that are researching on that front. Not that I think this is going to happen anyway since I'm in full control of this incredibly secure facility."

"We'll see about that.", Yang simply responded and ground her teeth again.

"Well, if you think so...", Dr. Merlot said provocatively, "How about you put these words into action... Be my guest."

His words had barely faded away before another gate at the other end of the ravine opened, obviously leading deeper into the mad scientist's laboratory. And even though Merlot's reason why he was granting them entrance had been made pretty clear, team RWBY and Ash knew that they had no other choice but to comply if they wanted to find a way to cure Ruby.

"Well, I guess it's this route, am I right?", the black-haired guard captain stated matter-of-factly and made his way towards the newly-opened door, "Y'all coming, or what?"

"Right behind you.", Yang responded and she and Blake followed suit. Weiss, however, was still worried about her girlfriend and quickly walked to her side.

"Are you sure you're alright, Rose Petal?", the heiress asked carefully and started to massage the younger girl's shoulder, "If you feel anything strange, please let me know, okay?"

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine, Snowflake.", Ruby announced and gave the white-haired girl a reassuring smile, "We've come this far and all of you went through so much bad stuff just for me. There's no way I'm going to let you down now and let my condition get the better of me. Cross my heart!"

"I'm glad to hear that.", Weiss responded and kissed the crimsonette gently on the lips, "Just remember one thing: I love you and this is never going to change, no matter what."

"I'm feeling cured already.", the younger girl said with a small giggle, "Let's go get this weird serum so the doctors can fix me completely."

"Sounds good to me.", the heiress agreed, then, the couple caught up with the rest of their group and ventured deeper into this ominous facility.

* * *

However, Ruby hadn't been completely honest with her girlfriend. The moment all of them had entered Merlot's laboratory, she had started to feel a bit off. These weird obsessive thoughts were still trying to make themselves at home in her mind... even without the fighting. Of course, the younger girl had it under control, or at least she told herself that much. But she also knew that every battle made it worse and that this encounter just now most certainly wasn't the last one.

To make things even more complicated, the crimsonette could swear that there was another strange kind of whisper in the back of her head, different from the one she heard when she was in her Grimm-slaying battle trance. She couldn't quite understand it but she was sure that it was trying to speak to her... that it was trying to say something more meaningful than the usual encouragement to kill. Maybe it was even something useful that could help them find that serum.

Against all reason, Ruby tried to listen to the strange voice, yet, she couldn't understand a single word. It was distorted, had an echo and was, all in all, completely unintelligible. But then, without a warning, the voice became clear – and it was suddenly obvious to whom it belonged.

'Well, well, my little Rose... how long do you think you can manage to keep your sanity? I know you can hear me. You've heard me all the time since you came down here... But you haven't tried to really listen until now, have you? To solve the mystery: This is the same voice that all of my beautiful, semi-sentient Grimm can hear. The voice that commands them... that gives them purpose. And now... it has finally taken a hold of you as well!'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay... looks like Ruby is going to have a hard time during her stay in this godforsaken laboratory. In addition, her companions aren't exactly safe as well since they're, well, trapped here... with her. But I'm getting off the point.
> 
> Nevertheless, I'd say we made some significant progress here: The main antagonist has revealed himself, his evil plans are clear (everybody who has played Grimm Eclipse probably could've guessed...) and we have some kind of 'arena' for the final battle. Let's see how long it will take to finally get there.
> 
> Writing the dialogue for Dr. Merlot was incredibly hard and I'm still not sure if he sounds authentic. If you have any improvement suggestions, please don't hesitate to tell me in the comments. But please be polite, even if you think I messed up completely. Oh, and take into account that he might have changed a bit during his existance as an artificial being as well... and that he really hates team RWBY now.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and anticipate more of the story. Things are going to get pretty crazy from now on – oh boy, I'm excited! Stay tuned for the next chapter and have a nice day!


	40. A Pretty Twisted Game

'I wonder if you will tell your friends that you are hearing voices.', Dr. Merlot's voice echoed through Ruby's head, 'I highly doubt it, though... You don't want to worry them... to scare them away. But I guess it is only a matter of time until they will turn their backs on you. You aren't their friend anymore, after all. At the moment, you're just a nuisance to them. They tolerate you, they bear with you... maybe they even pity you. But most importantly: they _fear_ you... because you're so much stronger... so much BETTER than them already. They are begrudging you because of your new abilities... your improvements. They envy  you. That's why they want you to return to normal. They want to keep you down out of ulterior motives... jealousy... selfishness. They are trying to keep you from living up to your full potential... because they are afraid that you will leave them in the dust in no time... if you'd just embrace your new life... your fate!'

'Don't listen to him, Ruby...', the crimson-haired girl chanted over and over again, 'He just wants to get under your skin. What he says makes sense, thoNO, IT DOESN'T! Your friends are helping you out of pure goodwill. You're sick! You need to be cured! Everybody worries about you. You have hurt them a couple of times already because your mind is all messed up! You won't let this happen again, got it?! You have to ignore this weird lunatic... no matter how tempting everything sounds he's offering you... wait... No! He's crazy and you're better than him!'

'Unfortunately, I can't read your thoughts...', the scientist continued, 'But considering your facial expression my cameras show me right now, I'm pretty sure you're struggling. Oh, dear... you don't have to. Just let it happen... let your deepest urges and desires take over. I know you well enough already... You wanted to become a Huntress to make a change... to make the world a better place. We have the same goal, my little Rose. Just ally yourself with me and we'll make it happen! You'll be the flag bearer... the vanguard for a new age of history! You'll be the spark that ignites the change to saves a world ultimately doomed to fail without it. All I need from you is a little... cooperation.'

Ruby just tried to shake Merlot's voice out of her head and move forward. Unfortunately, the mad scientist was ever-present in her mind. But the crimsonette knew she needed to be strong. If not for herself, then for her friends. This place was already dangerous enough – her teammates and Ash didn't need an insane, Grimm-infected scythe-wielder who unpredictably attacked everything within reach on top of that.

* * *

The four girls, Ash, and the dozen Atlesian Knights strode through yet another corridor before they were met with another gate. As expected, the heavy doors opened right in front of them and granted them entrance to something that looked like a command center. There were a couple servers in the corners of the room and some kind of cryogenic vessels with input screens attached to them (probably operated by Merlot's less _combat ready_ robots – or maybe just himself). And, of course, the sidewalls were lined with a couple of hatches the five Huntspeople were already all too familiar with.

However, there was another thing that caught the group's attention immediately. In the back of the chamber, a few tanks containing a weird, glowing, purple liquid could be spotted. That could only mean...

"Jackpot!", Yang shouted and dashed into the room before her teammates could say anything. This could be a trap, after all. No... this _obviously_ was a trap! The rest of team RWBY and Ash quickly came to the conclusion that they had to save the hot-headed blonde and quickly followed suit.

However, before the blonde even got close to the tanks, the purple liquid was quickly pumped down to wherever. Yang immediately stopped her approach, then, she started to look around in anger. It was now that she realized that this annoying scientist had just been messing with her. She had no regrets, though. It had been an opportunity to save her sister, and she would've never forgiven herself if she hadn't tried to take it.

"Oh, Miss Xiao Long...", Merlot's computer voice sighed over the speakers, "And here I thought you were getting smarter. Yet, this _action_ has been more than predictable. Shame on you..."

"Dude... you're starting to get on my tits.", the blonde shouted at the ceiling, "If you've checked my background so thoroughly, you would know that everybody who does this has to face pretty ugly consequences."

"Hmm... I doubt that any kind of retaliation is within your current possibilities.", the scientist's voice echoed through the room, "But then again, I am open to new experiences. That's what constitutes scientific progress, after all. So _hit me with your best shot_ , as you young people like to phrase it. Even though I suspect it won't do any good to your sister's condition... hehehe..."

"I'm gonna destroy you, asshole!", Yang yelled furiously, while her teammates closed up to her, "I'm gonna fucking grab deep into your data throat and pull your data bowels through your fucking data mouth and then stain the floor with your data insides!"

"So impulsive...", Merlot chuckled maliciously.

"Don't let him push your buttons.", Blake tried to calm down her partner, "That's exactly what he wants."

"Correct.", Ash quickly added, "He knows that Ruby reacts bad to our anger issues, so he tries to manipulate her through us."

It was now that Yang glanced over her shoulder to look at her sister. The crimson-haired girl had a frenzied expression on her face and looked around the room for something to vent her rage on. Luckily, Weiss quickly snuggled up to her side and whispered something soothing into her ear. A few seconds later, Ruby's facial features softened again and she took a deep breath while rubbing her head against the heiress' in a cat-like, affectionate manner. This caused the white-haired girl to smile again, yet, she gave her blonde teammate a somewhat scolding look.

"S-sorry...", Yang immediately apologized, "I kinda lost my composure. Won't happen again. But you guys knew that I would do everything for Ruby... including beating up a mad scientist." The last part was spoken loud enough for the crimsonette to hear and when lilac eyes met silver ones, the crimson-haired girl's smile grew a little wider.

"Aww... that's so incredibly sweet.", sounded the sarcastic voice of Dr. Merlot over the place, "It would be a real shame if something like... I don't know... a fierce and gory battle would spoil the moment, am I right?"

In an instant, the five Huntspeople perked up again. Obviously, that was the mad scientist's way to announce an upcoming ambush of his mutated Grimm and probably even other threats he hadn't mentioned yet. Team RWBY and Ash immediately readied their weapons and scanned the gates and hatches for any kind of attackers. Unfortunately, they didn't have to wait very long.

Again, red warning lamps stood out from the room's sparse lighting and a horn started to sound once more. A few seconds later, the entrance they had come from slammed shut. Even the Atlesian Knights seemed to notice the change of atmosphere and cocked their assault rifles. This would, most certainly, get hairy...

"How about we increase the difficulty a little this time?", the mad scientist asked, "While the first little exercise was kind of enlightening already, I am pretty sure we can improve this. Let's see how much of a good show you put up against a more... deadly enemy."

Again, the room was flooded with mutant Creeps... but this time, a couple of mutant Beowolves emerged from the hatches as well. And even though the group had already fought this type of enemy, they noticed that there were still a couple of gates left that hadn't opened yet. These ones probably housed a lot of reinforcements... or maybe something worse.

"Okay... Creeps and Beowolves. Nothing we haven't dealt with before.", Ash announced, "Stay on guard, watch out for the wolvies' bigger acid splashes and we should be fine."

"Roger that!", Yang responded, "Let's kick some butt!"

"Be careful, Rose Petal.", Weiss said to her girlfriend with a loving smile.

'I'm not worried about myself...', Ruby thought nervously but gave the white-haired girl a reassuring nod nonetheless. Then, the four girls and the guard captain threw themselves into the fray.

* * *

In next to no time, another intense battle had flared up. A few precise shots from Ash's heavy pistol quickly eliminated a couple of Creeps while his fire sword kept the ones that tried to lunge at them at bay. Blake and Yang made good use of their weapons' ranged capabilities again as well, even though they sometimes switched to close combat techniques – the Faunus a little more often since it was less risky in her case due to her Semblance.

Ruby and Weiss, together with the Atlesian Knights, covered their three friends' flanks to avoid a surprise attack from the sides. As always, the heiress made excellent use of her Dust arsenal while the crimsonette sniped the furthermost Grimm and occasionally dashed forward with her Semblance to slay any purple creature that got too close. The androids mostly eliminated stray targets, watching out their line of fire won't interfere with their human commanders' movements.

All the while, the white-haired girl tried to keep an eye on her girlfriend. For now, Ruby still seemed pretty composed but Weiss knew that could... and probably would change any second. She already noticed that her Rose Petal's fighting style got more reckless and aggressive as the battle went on and it was only a matter of time before the younger girl would snap again.

Nevertheless, the five Huntspeople and their backup were doing pretty well, even though Merlot had announced that this battle would be a lot harder than the first one. Admittedly, their opponents were more dangerous this time, but since they had already fought the creatures before, team RWBY and Ash were handling the situation smoothly.

But then, something odd happened. Again, sirens blared, if only briefly, and another four hatches in the very back of the room slid open. However, instead of Grimm, a couple of androids emerged. Team RWBY still knew them all too well: they were Merlot's security bots, the same ones the four girls had already fought on the scientist's island about a year ago.

Admittedly, the androids had undergone some slight changes, but besides a few minor upgrades, they were still pretty much the same as last time. The melee robots wielded double-bladed glaives while the ranged ones were equipped with heavy Gatling guns slash grenade launchers. But just because they didn't seem to have improved much didn't change the fact that they were still quite dangerous opponents.

"Watch out!", Weiss yelled to drown out the fighting noises, "Merlot's sending out his androids this time! These things are really tough and pretty deadly!"

"Different fellas, same story..." Ash grumbled and pulled the gear shift of his sword again, letting the blade's engine roar in the process, "As long as they don't emit purple, caustic acid I'm pretty sure I'll get along with these guys... until I dismember them."

Unfortunately, the guard captain was quickly proven wrong. The androids weren't anything like the mutant Grimm. The melee fighters struck swiftly and aggressive while the gunners used suppressive fire and well-placed grenades to drive the Huntspeople apart. They were supporting each other pretty well... and it almost seemed like they were supporting the Grimm as well rather than being a threat on their own. Apparently, just like the team's Atlesian Knights, the scientist's robots were some kind of backup. Even weirder, the purple creatures seemed to understand this – they didn't attack them and even planned their own attacks to not interfere with the androids.

"Fascinating, don't you think?", Merlot asked with malicious glee, "We're gaining so much insight in the Grimm's captivating psyche here. The creatures don't even recognize any emotionless robots and will probably never consider attacking them... Unless they pose a threat, that is!"

And as if this was the magic word, a couple of Beowolves started to charge at the Atlesian Knights. It was now that team RWBY and Ash realized that Merlot's androids had driven them away from the Knights, which were pretty much sitting ducks at the moment. Had this been the plan all along? However, the five Huntspeople hadn't much time to think about that.

The first mutated Grimm had quickly gotten in range and lunged at the front and center one of the still firing robots. The creature was barely slowed down by the bullets that riddled its body and tore the now completely defenseless Knight apart in a matter of seconds. The android's companions made short work of the Beowolf shortly after, however, they were soon the target of the other approaching Grimm.

Ash immediately yelled a few commands in order to minimize their casualties, but before the Atlesian Knights could comply, another two had already been destroyed by the savage, unforgiving creatures. The guard captain and the four girls then tried to fend off the Beowolves that were attacking their backup, but that wasn't an exactly easy task. Merlot's androids, as well as a couple of Creeps, were still preventing them from doing so. Apparently, the mad scientist's current plan really was getting rid of the Knights at first.

However, Merlot hadn't reckoned with the ruthless force that was Ruby Rose. The crimsonette hardly cared about this different kind of opponent and converted the androids into scrap metal the moment they dared to approach her. And even though she mostly did it because of her Grimm side's urge to kill or destroy something at the moment, at least she managed to pave the way for her teammates so they could aid the cornered Atlesian Knights.

'Impressive, Miss Rose...', Merlot's voice echoed through the crimson-haired girl's head while his cameras tried to keep her killing spree in focus, 'You're making good progress. But I still think you can do a little better. Just embrace all your rage and hatred and let it out. It is unhealthy to keep this bottled up, you know.'

Of course, Ruby tried to ignore the mad scientist's manipulation attempts. Losing control of her body (to some degree) every time she had to fight was already bad enough and the crimsonette didn't want to imagine what would happen if her condition got any worse. At the moment, she could at least still differentiate between friend and foe... something Merlot obviously wanted to change. But the crimson-haired girl won't let this happen.

Nevertheless, Ruby's battle trance proved itself as effective as always. While her teammates and the androids were doing a good job as well, the scythe-wielder easily chalked up the most eliminations. After a couple of minutes, the mutant Grimm had been taken care of and Merlot's androids quickly followed suit. Soon, the room's hatches were closed again and the last enemies were slain. But even though the team was sure they had handled the situation decently, they had to admit that the mad scientist hadn't been lying about _increasing the difficulty_... far from it.

After the fog of war had cleared and everybody had caught their breath, Ash immediately asked if his companions were alright again and, much to his relief, realized that nobody had been injured. However, his contented expression quickly faltered the moment he inspected the Atlesian Knights. Unfortunately, five of them had been destroyed during the fight and two others seemed to be damaged... still functioning, but definitely not optimally anymore. It was obvious that the remaining androids wouldn't survive another battle as harsh as the last one... and the guard captain was certain that things won't get any easier from now on.

* * *

"Splendid!", Dr. Merlot chirped, "Marvelous! Stupendous! That was some excellent work, students. This battle had been veeery informative. I already have a lot of amazing ideas on how to improve my beautiful, little creations so they can spread our _cure_ over the world more effectively."

"I thought only this Death Stalker thing has the ability to infect human beings.", Weiss mentioned in confusion, "So why bother with the Creeps and Beowolves anymore?"

"Ah, Miss Schnee... you have such a narrow-minded perspective on things.", the scientist explained, "Even though it is my main objective to create a new species of unimaginable power, do you really think that every single nobody is suited for the next step of evolution? I might be a generous god, but I am still a supporter of the model _survival of the strongest_. The unworthy need to be sorted out to minimize the probability of weak genes contaminating the future gene pool. Therefore, I still have to make some improvements to the... cleaning crew."

"You're a monster.", Blake said disdainfully. She immediately remembered someone who had _somewhat_ similar views and opinions but quickly tried to push the memories of her time as a White Fang member to the back of her mind.

"To build a better tomorrow, some little sacrifices have to be made, my dear.", Merlot responded casually as if planning to kill the majority of the population was a pretty ordinary thing to do, "And... as far as I recall, you had been supporting an organization with a pretty... similar point of view not that long ago. Or am I mistaken here, Miss Belladonna?"

"Yeah... _had been_.", the Faunus shot back, "And if you hadn't done you r background checks so desultorily, you would know exactly that this radical and completely twisted point of view was the reason why I left them and never looked back."

"Hmm... even though this faulty virtuousness of yours is rather inconvenient, I appreciate your strength of will.", the scientist praised the raven-haired girl, "I'm pretty sure you will make for a useful contender for my _cure_ as w ell someday. All of you, actually... well, maybe except the old one."

"Beware of the old man in a profession where people usually die young.", Ash simply responded, yet, it sounded a little grumpier than his normal tone of voice.

"The only reason every one of you is still alive is that I see the same potential in you I'm seeing in Miss Rose at the moment.", Dr. Merlot explained, "Otherwise, I would've gotten rid of you already. So be glad that I am planning pretty far ahead, chums. Nevertheless, even my patience has its limits... you better don't push your luck."

"We will never become your _contenders_ for y our fucked up plague... and Ruby won't, either.", Yang announced, "Here's how it's gonna be: We're gonna kick your Grimm's asses, then we'll kick your ass, after that we'll get this weird serum, and, last but not least, we'll walk out of this dump, treat ourselves to a cold beer at the pub back at Nave, and then get my sister fixed."

"Your determination is admirable.", the scientist's computer voice chuckled, "But aren't you forgetting one teensy-weensy, but ever so crucial, tiny little detail? I control everything in this facility. Even _if_ you somehow manage to escape this lab again by yourselves, which I highly doubt... it is still impossible for you to obtain even a single drop of my serum."

"Then we will find another way to cure my sister.", Yang responded determined, "We could still capture one of your mutants... or, come to think of it, just collect some of the weird acid from them. Maybe set up a couple of bottles and glasses on the battlefield, then kill these purple freaks and..."

"Would've been an excellent plan, blondie...", Ash interrupted his companion, "...if the acid wouldn't evaporate just like the rest of the Grimm in a couple of seconds. Aaand... we would probably need the stuff from the Death Stalker mutant anyway." This statement caused Yang to frown but, of course, the guard captain was right. How could she forget about these obvious facts?

"Mr. Ivory is correct.", Dr. Merlot explained, "The moment a Grimm is infused with my serum, it becomes part of their biology... which means it will just dissolve with the rest of the creature's body upon death. Additionally, it continues to behave pretty Grimm-like when transmitted to, I don't know, let's say... a human. At least I assume that nobody had been able to separate it from Miss Rose's blood so far, am I right?" The last part was spoken with a fair amount of spite.

"I'm so fucking going to kill you.", Yang grumbled under clenched teeth.

However, the scientist didn't react to the blonde's threat and simply continued: "Let's just face the facts: You just _can't_ win, regardless of your efforts. You can't obtain a sample of my serum. You can't extract it... you can't reproduce it... the only thing you can do is stand back and watch while your dear friend slowly but surely takes the next step of evolution!"

"We'll find a way to save Ruby.", Blake shot back, "We have beaten you once already and we will do so again."

* * *

While Blake, Yang, and Ash were conversing (or rather trading barbs) with Dr. Merlot, Weiss quickly made her way to her girlfriend, whose condition was still rather poor. Admittedly, Ruby seemed to have shaken off her trance already, but then again, her breathing sounded anything but healthy – even for somebody who had just fought a fierce battle a couple of minutes ago.

"Hey, Rose Petal.", Weiss addressed her girlfriend softly, "How are you holding up?"

Ruby needed another moment to completely catch her breath, but then she responded with a smile: "I'm okay... kind of... But it'll get better soon. It's only the first few minutes after a fight that are kind of... unpleasant."

"I'm glad to hear that.", the heiress said relieved, "However, maybe I can help you feel better a little quicker."

With these words, she pulled Ruby into a soft embrace and gently locked lips with her. No matter how many times they were kissing, Weiss knew that she would never get tired of the heavenly feeling. It didn't even matter to her that they were currently trapped inside of a dangerous laboratory. Everything that was important at the moment was the beautiful girl in her arms, the warmth they were sharing, and, of course, the knowledge that Ruby belonged to her as much as she belonged to Ruby.

"Mmm... I feel better already.", the crimson-haired girl purred after they had parted (and she truly meant it since the annoying voices in her head had been silenced completely, if only for a short time), "But then again, even though my weird, Grimm-infected mind doesn't think about gory stuff anymore... kissing you forces it to think about... other things we can't do right now."

Upon this pretty bold statement, the white-haired girl started to blush a bit, but she still responded with a loving smile: "Don't worry about that. I promise you, once we're back at Beacon... and the second the door to our room falls shut, we will do exactly _that_ for at least a couple of hours. Or until we pass out... whatever comes first."

"Sounds good to me.", Ruby said and pulled her girlfriend into yet another kiss.

Again, the horrendous voices in the crimsonette's head were immediately pushed out of her mind. At the moment, the only thing that existed in Ruby's world were these pillowy lips of Weiss that tasted sweeter than any candy the younger girl had ever savored. Whenever the heiress was close to her, all of her worries faded away and were replaced with only one single thing: Happiness.

Unfortunately, the crimson-haired girl knew that this happiness won't last very long given her current state of health – it was only a momentary abatement. The annoying voices in her head would return sooner or later, trying to manipulate her again. Even though Weiss' affections eased her condition at times, Ruby was smart enough to know that it would only get worse the longer they were staying at this godforsaken place.

There HAD to be a way to get a sample of this weird serum... somehow...

* * *

Suddenly, everybody's attention was called by the sound of a gate sliding to the side – but of course, it wasn't the one they had come from. Apparently, Merlot had decided that it was time to move on.

"Ah... you can't imagine how much I've missed such delightful, little chit-chat now and then.", the scientist suddenly noted with fake emotionality, "Not many people visit me. Y'know, since nobody knows this place exists, and everybody thinks I have perished, and all that... But then again, the day is short and I still have a lot of experimenting to do. So... how about level three? Let's try to think of this as a video game. More fun for everybody."

"Sounds good to me. I was always pretty good at these and have beaten every boss so far.", Yang responded confidently, "And at the end of the day, I can add your sorry ass to the list!"

"I sense some generational gap here.", the mad scientist explained to the blonde maliciously, "I wasn't referring to these modern pastimes you might be used to. I was talking about the ancient stuff: Y'know, the games you just _can't_ win... the games that just get faster and harder... until you die. Even though that would be, as said before, a real shame."

"Wow... way to spoil video games for me.", Yang grumbled, "Now I have yet another reason to kick this fucker's ass."

"Well, I guess we don't have much of a choice but to find out what this _level three_ is all about... even though I doubt it will be something pleasant.", Ash pondered, "But I hope we're gonna find something useful soon. This place gives me the creeps... no pun intended."

"We definitely need to reconsider our further strategy after all this new information... and maybe even come up with some kind of backup plan as well.", Blake noted with a frown, "To be honest, I'm starting to get a little... nervous as well. Of course, letting Ruby down isn't an option, but then again... I mean, we are getting further and further away from the entrance and becoming more and more... well, _trapped_ in the process."

"So what?", the blonde asked, a little annoyed by her partner's sudden lack of confidence (even though the Faunus just tried to be reasonable), "It only means we have to bash a couple more doors to get out of here again. And even though these things are pretty massive, I'm sure we can crack them open. At least as a team. As long as we're together, we're unstoppable!"

"I'm with Yang on this matter.", Weiss seconded, even though she secretly shared her Faunus teammate's concerns, "Whatever happens, we'll get through it. We always have. Isn't that right, Ruby? ...Ruby?"

"Huh?", exclaimed the crimsonette and snapped out of her thoughts. Weiss immediately noticed that something wasn't quite right.

"Are you absolutely sure that you're alright?", the heiress asked carefully, "If anything's the matter, if you feel odd, or if you need something, please let us know. Let _me_ know. I love you and I want to be there for you like you have been for me a thousand times already."

"I promise you, Snowflake: Everything is fine.", Ruby said overly firmly, "There are no mutant Grimm thingies at the moment, I'm back to normal, my cute girlfriend is by my side... What else could I ask for?" And even though Weiss' worried expression didn't falter completely, at least the heiress seemed to believe the crimsonette's story... much to the latter's relief.

Of course, Ruby couldn't tell her girlfriend what really was going on in her mind: All the time, Merlot had been talking to her, had tried to agitate her, to manipulate her. For now, the crimsonette was still able to ignore it, but the weird Grimm-side in her bloodstream seemed to try to react to his comments and commands... and suppressing this became harder and harder.

Needless to say, Ruby kept her mouth shut about this. It would only make her teammates even more nervous and anxious, which would most certainly affect her in a pretty bad way – she wasn't _that_ naive. But then again, she also felt bad about lying to  her girlfriend. A vicious cycle...

'No, Ruby!', the crimson-haired girl scolded herself inwardly, 'You need to be strong now. Positive thoughts. All of your friends are trying to help you and you won't let them down! You're gonna find that weird serum, return to Beacon, get cured, then everything will be fine and you and Weiss can be happy again – together! Yeah! That's a good motivation.'

However, even though the young scythe-wielder told herself this over and over again, the crazy scientist's voice was slowly gnawing at her sanity. The constant fights didn't make it any better, either. Yet, Ruby knew she had no other choice but to try staying calm and collected, ignoring whatever gruesome whisper wanted to talk to her, and preventing the Grimm-stuff in her bloodstream taking over her mind and body.

With this in mind, the crimsonette and her friends passed the next gate and progressed deeper into the lab. A moment later, the heavy metal doors slammed shut behind them.

* * *

'I really wonder what happens first, my little Rose.', Dr. Merlot's spiteful voice echoed through Ruby's head once more, 'Will they notice... or will you crumble? Not that it really matters to me. Either way... in the end, I will be victorious...'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh-oh... looks like Merlot is having the upper hand. Will team RWBY really be able to beat him this time as well? Will the mad scientist make a mistake somewhere along the line? Will his over-confidence be his downfall again? Or will this be the end of our heroines? Questions upon questions...
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, even though not THAT much had happened besides another fight, a few arguments and the continuation of Ruby's corruption. But don't worry: we're heading for the grand finale of this arc. But not before building up a little more suspense. I know I'm terrible... sue me^^
> 
> Let me know what you think about this chapter in the comments, stay tuned for the next one, and, of course, have a nice day!


	41. Closer to the Breaking Point

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hurray! Another chapter done! Sorry for the long wait... I still suck at this fight-heavy stuff. I don't want the battle scenes to be too repetitive, so I'm rewriting and rephrasing a lot of paragraphs about twenty times...
> 
> At least we're going to make a lot of plot progression with this chapter. And when I mean a lot, I mean... well, see for yourself. I hope you can enjoy it, even though the title probably suggests something different.

Over the course of the next two hours or so, team RWBY's and Ash's lives were the living hell: Another dimly lit corridor followed by another elevator, followed by another room, followed by another fight. They had long since forgotten how deep they had ventured into the lab already... how far below sea level they were... how many high-security metal doors were between them and the entrance now. The team pressed on, nonetheless. They had to find that serum somehow.

Of course, the five Huntspeople were still confident that there had to be a way. Admittedly, Merlot had a lot of advantages, for example controlling the whole laboratory or having a huge, mutated Grimm-army under his command, but that didn't mean he was without any weaknesses. The mad scientist might be an AI and missing a physical body now but, all in all, he was still a human being in his mind... and humans (especially him) were anything but flawless. Merlot was still prone to emotions, easily irritated, and, most importantly, incredibly arrogant. Maybe they could use it against him... given that they survived long enough to get a chance to do so.

Unfortunately, the (even only slightly increasing) difficulty from battle to battle began to take its toll on their backup. From the twelve Atlesian Knights they had started with, there were only four remaining... and only three of them undamaged. Admittedly, the fewer robots there were left, the easier it was to protect and preserve them, but in the end, it still meant that their additional firepower had decreased significantly.

Even though the constant fighting tired everybody out, the one who suffered from it the most was definitely Ruby. It hurt her teammates deeply to see how the crimsonette struggled against her illness after a battle. Of course, the younger girl always managed to get a hold of herself after she had fallen into her battle trance again... but it seemed to get harder and take longer to do so every time it happened. Weiss' efforts to soothe her girlfriend increased respectively.

* * *

"Impressive as always, chums.", Merlot's computer voice praised them mockingly after the most recent fight was over, "I'm pretty surprised that none of you had bitten the dust by now. You are indeed incredibly skilled warriors... even Mr. Ivory. But then again, I should know better than everybody else that you shouldn't underestimate an old stager."

"Why don't you just hand over the freaking serum?", Yang panted annoyedly, "We both know that it's only a matter of time before we kick your ass and just take what we want. We're the good guys, so we won't lose!"

"Hats off to your _determination_... and the fact that it hasn't faltered by now.", the scientist exclaimed, "But it doesn't make a difference in the end. As I've said many times before: You can't win here. You can only take me up to the offer I've made you out of pure generosity. And I really hope you are smart enough to accept the deal... before I grow tired of playing with you." The last part didn't sound like his usual, mocking voice – no, it was a dead serious threat.

"I guess I'm speaking for all of us... and I'm tired of repeating myself.", Blake responded, "We'll never turn our backs to Ruby, we won't hand her in for your twisted experiments, and, most importantly, we won't leave this godforsaken place without any progress towards a cure for her."

"She's god damn right.", Ash seconded in his typical, gravelly voice.

"Very well, then...", Merlot sighed (as much as his artificial voice allowed this) and another door slip open, "I assume you already know the drill. If you really think you can get a sample of my serum, then go on. Maybe I can still... change your minds. One way or the other."

"As if...", Yang grumbled and started moving, "Come on, team. Every room brings us closer to kicking this madman's butt. Rubes? Weissicle? Sorry to interrupt this tender moment, but I need you to stop cuddling and concentrate on the mission again. You can continue this... and whatever else you have in mind the moment we're out of this shithole."

Upon hearing this statement, the crimsonette and the white-haired girl broke their kiss and turned towards the blonde. And while Ruby just gave her sister a small nod, Weiss wanted to get a little angry at her teammate. She had just managed to calm her girlfriend down again, after all, and now they had to dive into the next fight already? But the heiress knew better than to vent her emotions. Negative feelings and actions were as much the enemies right now as this lunatic of a scientist.

"When did you became our leader?", the white-haired girl responded jokingly instead, then, she turned back to her girlfriend, "Are you fine again, Rose Petal?"

"Yup, I'm okay.", Ruby answered and kissed the white-haired girl on the forehead one last time, "Let's go. As Yang's said: The sooner we get out of here again, the sooner we can... deepen these snuggles. Maybe somewhere more private... and in a bed..."

"This weird condition really messes with your hormones...", Weiss sighed, but quickly added in a tender voice, "That wasn't a _no_ , though..."

"Hey! Are you rooted to the spot?", Yang asked over the shoulder, barely slowing her walk, "Come on! We have unfinished business."

Ruby and Weiss quickly gave each other a determined nod, then, the young couple followed suit.

* * *

'That's a good girl.', Merlot's mocking voice echoed through the crimson-haired girl's head, 'Keep moving forward... embrace the inevitable. Fulfill your destiny.'

'Just ignore him, Ruby.', the crimsonette told herself inwardly, 'Don't let him push your buttons. Whatever he says, his words can't harm you as long as you don't pay attention to them.'

'Even though you're trying to resist... you can feel it, too.', the mad scientist continued, 'It stirs your blood... It makes your head spin... It speaks to you just as much as I do. And every battle, every strife, every bit of sadness, anger, or fear brings you closer to the breaking point... Closer to your completion... perfection.'

'Stay strong, Ruby.', the younger girl reasoned with herself, 'You want to be powerful, but not _that_ way. You want to protect the ones you love, not hurt them... or even worse. You don't wanna trade your soul for strength: That's the most stupid thing anyone can do. Every supervillain in every action movie you've seen has taught you that.'

'Soon, my little Rose... soon, you won't be able to close your mind to it anymore.', Merlot said ominously, 'Struggle as much as you want but it won't matter in the end. Everything is going according to plan. The scans I make from time to time verify this. I'm almost sure that I won't be needing all of my Grimm or androids stationed in this part of the lab, much less any reinforcements. In a few, you will crumble... I just have to wait for the straw that breaks the camel's back.'

'Not gonna happen.', Ruby thought, 'I'll never allow that to happen.'

'I still wonder why you won't give up already.', the scientist pondered, 'Regardless of the fact that you can't win anyway... but think about what you'll get in return: I'll grant you unimaginable power! You'll be the first-born of a godlike species. You'll change history forever. You even won't have to mourn your teammates when you just change sides. This way, I definitely won't need to kill them... and they will follow. You can become the most powerful being in all of Remnant without leaving anyone behind. And, most importantly, you can still be with your... girlfriend.'

'Don't fall for it, Ruby.', the crimsonette warned herself again, 'Even _if_ you could trust him... which you can't... vegetating as a Grimm-zombie, even though together with Weiss, would still mean anything but happiness. Especially since it most certainly means killing a lot of innocent people.'

'But then again, keep in mind that the offer stands only as long as you cooperate.', Merlot reminded the scythe-wielder, 'The longer you try to resist the likelier I might think that it needs some sacrifice to trigger a much-wanted reaction within your mind and body. Would be a real shame, though. But, y'know: Drastic times...'

Just like about a hundred times already, Ruby tried to shake the scientist's accursed voice out of her head. She could still ignore it, of course, but it was always there – it would always be there as long as she was inside this awful laboratory. Now it even threatened to kill her teammates if it was necessary to turn her into a Grimm. But Ruby won't allow either of those things. She would prevent them... she HAD to prevent them... at all costs!

* * *

While the crimsonette tried to keep her composure (and to hide her struggles from everybody), her teammates were discussing their further strategy. Of course, they kept their voices as low as possible and watched out for cameras or other wall-mounted devices. This laboratory had eyes and ears everywhere – and the last thing they wanted at the moment was the mad scientist eavesdropping on them.

"So... any idea how to proceed from here?", Blake whispered, "I mean, Merlot had made clear for the umpteenth time now that getting the serum won't be a cakewalk. And even though I don't think it is as impossible as he always puts it, we still need a plan and, most importantly, a clue about where to find a serum tank he can't drain that quickly."

"I already have one.", Weiss explained, "Merlot might be an AI now, but apart from that, he hasn't changed much. He is still way too over-confident and, just like last time, it will be his downfall. I'm pretty sure he will let us get as close to some kind of processing plant as possible... without granting us access, of course. He trusts in his and this facility's superiority. And that's the moment we'll prove him wrong."

"Exactly what I was thinking.", Yang took over her teammate's explanation, "This arrogant bastard will most certainly lead us to the serum himself. And as soon as he won't allow us to move on anymore, we just have to break down the next gate aaand bingo-bango... or should I say _yango_."

"Wow... even I think that was terrible...", Ash noted and raised an eyebrow, "Not the plan, that one sounds reasonable... but the pun."

"I'm just getting started.", the blonde responded with a chuckle, which causes the other two girls to groan.

However, Blake still seemed to have some concerns. Therefore, she asked carefully: "Do you really think that it'll be that simple?" Of course, she hated to be the voice of reason and wanted to save Ruby as much as everybody else but, sadly, the bitter truth was that Merlot had the upper hand, nonetheless.

At the raven-haired Faunus' question, Weiss just sighed. It wouldn't be nearly as easy as their simplification might suggest it – but she didn't want to say it out loud... mostly because of Ruby. Yang, however, handled the situation a little differently.

"Well, in short, the plan is as simple as we said... as long as we make it to this specific last room, that is.", the blonde explained nonchalantly, "I mean, this guy will still try to kill us along the way. But then again, I skipped that detail because it's as obvious as depressing."

"You should be a motivation trainer, Blondie.", Ash tossed in jokingly to light up the ugly mood, "Let's hurry, then. I'm on the edge of my seat to see how this turns out and... and I think I speak for all of us here... I don't plan to end in this dump."

"We neither.", Weiss immediately responded and looked at her girlfriend, " _None_ of us. Quiet now, there's another gate and, most certainly, another camera."

* * *

The moment they reached the heavy metal doors, they slid open, as always. Merlot hadn't seemed to overhear their plan... and if, he didn't let it show. The mad scientist had been unusually quiet for the last few minutes, for whatever reason, and it started to worry the team... except Ruby, who seemed to be in her own little world. Needless to say, seeing the crimsonette that way, so quiet and withdrawn, bothered Weiss even more.

Behind the newly opened gate lied another pretty big, dimly lit hangar. It was at least as huge and impressive as the first one – not as impressive as the cave from earlier, but still... In the very back of the room, they could make out another pretty large set of metal doors as well as some kind of bifurcation, two separate corridors leading even further into the facility. Just how deep would this lab turn out to be?

"Alright, Merlot!", Yang yelled at the ceiling since she had no idea where to look at while addressing the scientist, "Let me guess: We're about to fight another couple of your abominations in here."

"Have I become that predictable already?", the computer voice echoed through the hangar with fake embarrassment, "Well... I guess there's no need in hiding it anymore."

"Aren't you going to run out of Grimm sooner or later?", Blake asked slightly annoyed, "I mean, we must've killed hundreds of these mutant creatures since we've set foot into this lab."

"I'll have to admit that my resources are kind of limited, but then again, I can assure you that there are more than enough of my beautiful, enhanced beasts in this part of my _tremendously_ huge facility to achieve my main goal.", Merlot responded and added in an ominous voice, "...and even some optional ones, if necessary..."

It was pretty obvious what he meant by this. To rephrase an old saying: If they won't join you, kill them. Nevertheless, team RWBY won't let themselves get intimidated by his words.

"I'm sorry to inform you but, and I can't believe this _still_ isn't clear by now, we neither plan to abandon Ruby nor end here.", Weiss announced disdainfully, "So let's just get this over with, you bloody lunatic."

"Feisty little one, aren't you?", the scientist mocked the white-haired girl, "An ugly character trait for such a graceful, young woman if you ask me. Pardon my curiosity, but does it also annoy your crimson-haired lover, or does she consider it foreplay?"

"W-what?! You...", the heiress exclaimed while a heavy blush appeared on her face.

"Don't let him push your buttons, Weiss.", Blake immediately tried to calm her teammate down, "You know exactly why he says and does all of this."

"I know...", the white-haired girl responded but ground her teeth nonetheless.

"Alright, enough chatter!", Merlot announced, "You were promised a fight, after all... and a fight you will get. Additionally, I can substantiate my statement of having enough Grimm up my sleeve with facts that way... Two birds, one stone..."

"Suggestion: In the next room, the first thing we'll do is getting rid of these annoying speakers.", Ash grumbled scornfully, "...for reasons I don't think I have to explain." He only got nods in return.

* * *

Again, sirens were blaring, hatches were opening, and a moment later, another pack of mutated Creeps flooded the hangar. Of course, some Beowolves quickly followed suit – Merlot won't make this whole deathtrap of a mission any easier, after all. But on the other hand, they had fought so many of the mutant creatures already, it was almost routine by now.

Even Ruby wasn't having such a hard time anymore. Admittedly, she still fell into her by now well-known and infamous battle trance, but at least her condition didn't seem to get much worse while fighting these already familiar enemies. The rest of team RWBY and Ash were even able to incorporate the crimsonette's aggressive fighting style into their strategy – the scythe-wielder's actions might be pretty reckless, but at least there were some recurring patterns discernable.

After a couple of minutes, a few of Merlot's androids joined the fight. Of course, the highly specialized robots made the battle a lot harder, but then again, the five Huntspeople were kind of used to them by now. Team RWBY and Ash immediately adjusted their strategy, trying to keep the enemy at a distance and protecting each other as well as the remaining Atlesian Knights from the scientist's security bots.

After about a quarter of an hour, the last opponents were slain and the four girls and the guard captain finally got a well-earned breather... or that's what they thought. Everybody was way too relieved by the lack of reinforcements to notice that the hangar's Grimm-hatches remained open. Well, everybody besides one of them... but, unfortunately, that person was suddenly too distracted to mention it.

* * *

'A trifling victory... but a victory nonetheless...', Merlot's voice echoed through Ruby's mind once more, 'And here I thought I had improved my beautiful, mutated Grimm. Either I'm not as brilliant as I thought or you and your teammates have indeed honed your skills to a great extent.'

'About time you notice this...', the crimsonette thought while she tried to calm down again, 'Maybe you'll even come to the conclusion that it's pointless to try to make me one of your Grimm-mutant-minions after the next few fights. I mean, it's not like you have anything up your sleeve that can stop us.'

However, Ruby's confidence faltered immediately as the mad scientist addressed her companions over the speakers.

"I guess that takes care of the warm-up.", Merlot said nonchalantly, "But I think that it is time to notch up the performance a little. Just like in a video game, each level is more difficult than the last one. And if the minions won't pose a challenge to the characters anymore, the game will introduce a stronger enemy to keep things... _interesting_."

"So what? Are you going to sic a horde of Ursai on us?", Yang asked and reloaded her gauntlets.

"Not exactly. You see... Modifying Creeps and Beowolves is a pretty easy task. Their species are... quite simple in their biology.", the mad scientist explained, "Therefore, I can _produce_ a large number of them in a short period of time. Unfortunately, their fighting capabilities, while they might surpass their ordinary counterparts, are rather poor."

"Get to the point already!", Ash grumbled.

"Enhancing other, bigger, more dangerous Grimm is way more difficult and takes a lot longer as well, not to mention the problems with adjusting my serum... or recurring complications while experimenting on these more complex specimens.", Merlot continued excessively, simply ignoring the guard captain, "But then again, the potential that lies within these larger creatures is extraordinary. Advanced mutations, improved fighting capabilities, higher power of resistance, better... umm, you know what? How about you see for yourself."

Suddenly, the gate at the bifurcation slid open, this time without any sirens, for whatever reason. The double doors had barely disappeared fully into the walls before a deafening roar echoed through the hangar. Everybody turned their heads to face their new opponent... and what they saw made their blood run cold:

It was, indeed, an Ursa, like Yang had assumed already... but the biggest Ursa anyone of them had ever seen. Merlot hadn't been understating when he had said all these things about the potential of complex specimens. It was obvious that the creature had been an Ursa Major sometime earlier – but these days were long since gone. Now, there stood a gigantic, purple, acid-drooling beast in front of them, the bone-like platings on its back deadly looking spikes that would put any Boarbatusk's tusks to shame. This mutant abomination meant serious business, to say at least.

'Well, I know I've said that you're making good progress, but I still want faster results.', Merlot's voice sounded in Ruby's head, 'In addition, it seems that your anger about fighting my smaller Grimm doesn't provide quite the stimulus anymore. I guess we need another kind of hatred here to accelerate your metamorphosis. So... how about simply killing one of your friends? Maybe that little lover of yours...' Upon hearing this, the crimsonette's eyes went wide.

"Don't you dare, you maniac!", she shouted in anger. This caused her companions to turn around again and face the young scythe-wielder with confused expressions. Merlot hadn't _said_ anything for the last minute, after all. However, they didn't have much time to worry about the crimson-haired girl.

'Hahaha... Just kidding, just kidding...', the scientist continued his telepathic conversation, obviously amused by the fact that the young girl could be irritated that easily, 'As I've told you, your teammates are still too valuable to sacrifice them that quickly for results... as long as I can get them another way.'

Then, without a warning, his voice got malicious and he finished with a snarl: 'I'll start with the old one!'

Barely a second later, the mutated Ursa let out another blood-freezing growl and started charging at Ash. And, as if this wasn't bad enough already, a new pack of Creeps and Beowolves rushed out of the other, still open hatches.

The smaller Grimm immediately darted at the four girls and cut them off from the guard captain and the Ursa. There was a considerable number of them, so team RWBY couldn't fight their way through... not even Ruby since she had to deal with at least twice as many mutants as her teammates. However, even though there were enough Creeps and Beowolves to simply overrun them, the creatures didn't use this advantage – it seemed like they were just trying to keep the Huntresses busy.

And keeping them busy they did... busy enough that the girls barely noticed that the remaining four Atlesian Knights were ripped apart incredibly quickly. Apparently, Merlot had really been toying with them the whole time and the only reason they were still alive was the fact that the mad scientist was still considering it unnecessary to kill anyone of them... until now, it seemed.

* * *

The mutated Ursa proved itself to be an incredibly tough opponent... and it was completely fixated on the guard captain. Apparently, the Creeps and Beowolves only served the purpose to drive the four girls away while the huge beast pummeled the black-haired man. Even though Merlot had only revealed his plan to Ruby telepathically, it slowly dawned on the other girls as well. But, unlike the crimsonette who had fallen back into her battle trance, they could address it in order to plan their further strategy and support their companion.

"We need to help Ash somehow.", Weiss yelled to drown out the fighting noises while dodging a mutant Beowolf's claw and killing the creature shortly after.

"Easier said than done!", Yang responded, "If you haven't noticed, these things just won't let us. It's almost like they _want_ to keep us at a distance."

"They _do_!", Blake explained while emptying Gambol Shroud's magazine into a couple approaching Creeps, "It's like that one time when the Beowolves destroyed the first ones of our Atlesian Knights. Merlot is controlling them... like, _really_ giving them precise orders."

"Damn it!", the blonde cursed, "I don't know how much longer Ash can hang on on his own. We need to do something! What about Ruby?"

Weiss quickly glanced over her shoulder and found her girlfriend fighting almost as much Creeps and Beowolves as she, Blake, and Yang did together. Apparently, the mad scientist had taken into account that the crimson-haired girl posed the biggest threat to his plan. Therefore, his incredibly effective counter-measures...

"She's a lot busier than we are, so I doubt she'll manage to help Ash anytime soon.", the heiress explained, "But at least she's holding up fine."

"Then it's up to us to save the old man.", Yang responded, "Come on! We have to fight our way through somehow!"

Unfortunately, more and more Grimm kept coming... and prevented this. Team RWBY had no other choice but to watch Ash slowly but surely getting into dire straits. And while he still managed to dodge most of the Ursa's strikes and injured it with his fire sword, the beast seemed to take every blow with ease and continued to attack relentlessly. It wouldn't be long before the guard captain's Aura would be completely depleted.

Suddenly, an especially heavy swing from the giant Grimm left the black-haired man staggering and another followup attack pushed him back to the hangar's wall. He had barely regained his composure before the Ursa lunged at him again, ready to crush his head between its teeth. Fortunately, the guard captain managed to bring his sword between him and the beast's gaping maw in time... if only barely.

However, every weapon had its limits, especially between the fangs of a mutated Ursa (besides Ruby's about a thousand times overhauled scythe... perhaps). Ash gasped in shock when Scarlet Spike suddenly shattered under the pressure. The guard captain quickly dove out of the way to avoid being crushed by the beast's weight, but the exhaustion caused him to topple over in the process. He even lost his pistol while doing so – now, he was completely weaponless.

The Ursa quickly recovered from slamming head-first into a metal surface and approached the black-haired man again... but slowly this time, as if it was confident that this battle was almost over. Ash staggered to his feet, yet, he quickly realized that the mutant Grimm had circled him and he was standing with the back to the wall once more. This wouldn't end well.

The girls of team RWBY saw everything in the corner of their eyes while Creeps and Beowolves still prevented them from helping their friend. The Ursa let out another deafening growl in front of the guard captain and a bit of his acidic spittle rained down on him – that must sting. However, it would pale in comparison of what would come next. Weiss, Blake, and Yang could do nothing but watch while the huge purple creature prepared its final strike. The girls were sure that this would be the end of Ash...

But then...

* * *

There was a sizzling sound as the Ursa's acidic skin burned the palms of the guard captain's hands... while he was grabbing his opponent by the wrist to prevent its claw from tearing through his body. The members of team RWBY were astonished by the fact that Ash had the strength to do so, especially after all the fights he had already been through. How was that possible? However, they didn't have to wait long for the answer.

"Alright then...", the guard captain's deep voice echoed through the hangar, "I guess we'll have to do this the old-fashioned way."

Using the wall as leverage, Ash managed to push the Ursa away. Then, he shed his coat in one swift motion... and a lion's tail revealed itself, formerly hidden underneath it and completely unnoticeably due to the thick, heavy fabric. The guard captain released a growl that was almost on par with the giant Grimm's and deadly looking claws sled out of his fingertips. But that wasn't the end of his transformation.

Suddenly, the black-haired man's muscles rippled and bulged until his shirt ripped apart. The hunk of a man looked even bigger than he usually was in a matter of seconds. Was this some kind of Semblance, the three girls wondered – Ruby, of course, was still completely oblivious to anything else but slaying Grimm. Meanwhile, Ash's eyes narrowed to slits as his body hunched over, ready to pounce his prey like the predator his Faunus heritage made clear he actually was.

Every single bit of pain or exhaustion seemed to have left the guard captain's body as he lunged at the mutant Ursa with a rage and ferocity that almost rivaled the crimson-haired scythe-wielder at the moment. The lion Faunus used his claws to cut open the Grimm's side, leaving a nasty wound his sword couldn't have done better, before quickly dodging his opponent's counter-attack. Ash's new muscle mass wasn't slowing him down in the slightest – no, it appeared that he was even faster and more agile than before.

However, something odd was going on with him. Team RWBY was still pretty busy fighting off the Grimm that were attacking them but they still caught a glimpse of their companion now and then. Occasionally, they saw Ash's charcoal Aura flare up briefly... and every time it happened, the black-haired man flinched a little before quickly regaining his composure. Apparently, he was burning up his remaining energy at an alarming pace to maintain this outstanding form – that way, it wouldn't be long before he ran out of it completely.

But Ash seemed to be determined to finish the Ursa off before this would happen. He struck fast and hard and was, all things considered, a way more skilled fighter than with his sword and pistol... by a long shot. If it wasn't for the fact that he could probably uphold this condition for no more than a couple of minutes straight before he had to recharge his Aura, this mission would've definitely been a lot easier.

The guard captain quickly came to the conclusion that simply slicing open the Ursa's sides wouldn't do anything in the long run – the beast was just too sturdy... He had to do something to kill the mutant once and for all! Damn it... why hadn't he paid more attention in Grimm studies class during his time at Beacon?! He faintly remembered how the creatures' biology worked and, completely driven by instinct, he found the solution to his problem. Despite being soulless, these things were still (kinda) living beings. A nervous system was a nervous system, after all... And a spine was a spine!

The black-haired man dodged another strike of his opponent and quickly managed to get behind the Ursa. Then, Ash jumped on its back and climbed upwards, careful, to avoid the spikes. Of course, this didn't go unnoticed by the mutated Grimm and it started to claw at the Faunus and to thrash around violently. Nevertheless, the Ursa wasn't fast enough and the guard captain managed to put a stranglehold on it... which wasn't exactly easy due to the creature's wild movements and attacking attempts.

However, Ash barely minded the pain of acid-laced claws that were suddenly buried into his side. He had a goal... and he was dead set on accomplishing it. He had the upper hand now, he had his opponent exactly where he wanted it to be... and with all the strength he could muster, he turned his arms and upper body around, hoping he had recalled the Ursa anatomy correctly.

The ugly crack in the creature's neck told him that he had made the right decision. The mutant Ursa immediately ceased its actions and its body lost every single bit of tension. And, with a final gurgle, the horrendous beast collapsed.

The guard captain sighed in relief. It was finally done. However, the joy of this victory was pretty short-lived...

Unfortunately, Ash wasn't fast enough to avoid what came next. The Ursa's corpse hadn't even hit the ground before the beast exploded into a gigantic burst of purple acid. The black-haired man got flung through the hangar by it and slammed into a wall... hard. The last bit of his Aura flickered pathetically one last time and died down shortly after while his deflating body fell to the ground. He had used up too much of his energy to withstand the blow... and his severely corroded skin wouldn't heal on its own anymore as well.

Yet, Ash was still confident that he had done what was necessary in order to save the mission... and his companions.

* * *

The moment the guard captain hit the ground, all of the remaining Grimm in the hangar suddenly retreated and the hatches fell shut again. However, the four girls could still hear them running around behind the walls. But that didn't matter right now. They had to administer first aid to Ash... and fast.

Blake was closest to the black-haired man and immediately rushed to his side. She pulled out a vial of Dust from her backpack and quickly tended to his wounds... and there were many. The acid had caused a lot of damage and with his Aura depleted, the lion Faunus' body could do nothing to stop the bleeding...s.

"W-well... this sucks...", Ash wheezed weakly and took in a sharp, pained breath as the healing Dust was applied to his chest, "A-and here I thought my... retirement would be a little m-more relaxing..." He tried to chuckle at his lame joke but only ended up coughing up a bit of blood.

"Shh... don't speak.", Blake shushed him, "Save your energy. I got you."

Yang and Weiss quickly caught up to the guard captain and handed over their first-aid kits to their Faunus teammate. Ash's wounds didn't seem to be fatal but he was nowhere near able to fight anymore... he couldn't probably even walk properly without any help at the moment. This was bad... really, really bad.

And it only got worse.

They were standing, well, crouching at the hangar's crotch – besides Ruby who was still trying to shake off her battle trance. Suddenly, the gate at the end of the left corridor opened. It was obvious that Merlot didn't want to give them a breather. He wanted them (or at least the crimson-haired girl) to continue their venture into the depths of the laboratory. To make this even more apparent, several new Grimm-hatches at the right corridor's walls slid open and a few Creeps and Beowolves emerged, probably the ones that had fled the battlefield a few minutes ago. It seemed like the mad scientist had just regrouped his creatures.

However, the Grimm seemed to wait, probably for some kind of command. They were gnarling, pawing the ground, but not attacking... yet. And, as if this wasn't weird enough already, Ruby seemed to behave the same way. Her body's trembling signalized that she wanted nothing more than charging at the creatures and cut them into pieces, but she held back and shared a glance with her teammates as if she was waiting for some kind of instruction or strategy as well.

"What are we gonna do now?!", Weiss asked in shock while observing the rearrived Grimm, "There are just too many of them. Ash is wounded, our backup's gone... what'll happen next?!"

"I'll tell you: You and my sis move on to the next room!", Yang suddenly announced, "Blake and I'll handle these guys! You two need to find that serum."

"B-but...", the heiress wanted to object but was interrupted quickly.

"No buts, Princess!", the blonde cut her teammate off, "I've made up my mind already. Merlot is trying to get rid of _us_ now: That means we're pretty close to the serum! We... no, _you_ can't afford to let this opportunity go to waste!"

"We won't leave you alone!", Weiss exclaimed (she knew that this was in Ruby's interest as well), "If something happens to you guys, I could never..."

"Listen here, Weissicle!", Yang interrupted her again, "My fate is to fuck up these purple bastards so you two can move on and find a cure for Ruby! Your fate is to save my sister so you can marry her and, since your _thing_ is working properly, make me a niece or a nephew someday."

The white-haired girl hesitated for a moment. Would Yang and Blake really be able to fend off the next wave of Grimm without them... while trying to protect the injured Ash simultaneously, on top of that? But then again, splitting up was probably the only option they had if they still wanted to find the serum. Even though every fiber of her body wanted to resist, Weiss knew that she had to comply. They had no other choice – she was well aware of that.

"T-thanks, Yang...", the heiress sobbed, her voice cracking, "I don't know how I can ever..."

"If you waste any more time, I'll make sure that the children-part won't happen anymore!", the blonde exclaimed, "Now go!!!"

"Be safe.", Weiss said in a pleading voice, "All three of you." Then, she gave Ruby (who was still watching them and waited for orders) a curt nod, turned around and made her way towards the open door behind them. The crimsonette quickly understood and shared a last, almost reassuring glance with her sister, then, she followed her girlfriend.

"Won't promise you anything, Weiss.", Yang responded quietly and mostly to herself, then, she cracked her knuckles and turned around to face the Grimm, "Alright, scum! Playtime's over! BRING IT ON!"

Her red eyes and flaring Aura told everyone that she meant it exactly the way she had said it.

* * *

Ruby and Weiss hurried through the corridor as fast as their legs would carry them. They quickly passed the gate and, unsurprisingly, it slammed shut behind them again. In front of the young couple was another elevator that carried them down the moment they stepped on the metal platform. The fact that there was an _entire ocean_ above them barely crossed the two girls' minds anymore.

After a couple of yards, the lift came to an abrupt halt and another set of metal doors in front of them slid open. But what lied beneath took their breath away – everything they had seen inside this underground facility so far paled in comparison:

It was a colossal arena, even bigger than the one on the mad scientist's island where they had fought the first mutant Death Stalker about a year ago. Here, Merlot was most certainly testing his creations... the claw marks in the dirt and at the metal walls made it obvious that this place was some kind of training ground. At the opposite wall was another huge gate: No matter what Grimm the gray-haired man would capture and experiment on in the future, it would probably fit through it... which meant that there could be some kind of serum processing plant behind it!

The metal doors at the sides of the arena were also considerably bigger than the Grimm-hatches they had seen so far. It was pretty clear that Merlot was housing his _more complex specimens_ (as he put it) behind them. Hopefully, the mad scientist's words from earlier had been true and there weren't many of them. However, the young couple doubted it. It was more likely that their enemy had been saving them until last – in order to break Ruby after he had been able to separate her from the rest of her team.

But he hadn't succeeded completely. Weiss was still at her side... and she would never leave it. She would save her girlfriend, come hell or high water. No crazy scientist and his mutant Grimm-army would ever stop her from doing so!

However, the white-haired girl started to have trouble staying confident. She had already noticed that Ruby's condition had gotten a lot worse after seeing Ash's injuries. The crimsonette hadn't spoken once since then, she seemed pretty tense all the time, this frightening expression of rage and hatred was plastered on her face...

She wasn't even reverting back to normal anymore...

Suddenly, Merlot's voice echoed through the speakers of the arena, considerably louder than anytime before:

"Welcome, survivors! I never thought you'd make it that far. Congratulations!", his tone of voice had changed completely... and now, he sounded like the insane, violent, and sociopathic lunatic Weiss knew he truly was, "Finally, I have you exactly where... and _how_ I wanted you to be! Separated... weak... vulnerable..."

"As long as Ruby's by my side, I'll never yield!", the white-haired girl yelled... and her trembling voice made clear that there was no room for compromises.

"Brave... but delusional, nonetheless.", the scientist's voice boomed through the speakers, "You'll never get my serum! Everything that's left for you... pathetic heiress... is to witness my inevitable victory! THIS is the final stage! All of your efforts, all of your hopes... will die in this room! It ends... NOW! Hahahahaha!!!"

The white-haired girl shared a glance with her girlfriend... and while her silver eyes showed at least the slightest bit of reassurance... the vitreous bodies were almost completely black...

Ruby's resistance was crumbling...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is it! The final battle! The big showdown between Merlot's Grimm-army and the WhiteRose couple. We've waited so long to come this far...
> 
> Unfortunately, we'll have to wait a little longer before it happens – this is the peak point of the second arc, after all. I want to take my time to make the next chapter the best it can possibly be. And that will be pretty hard since it's going to be veeery complicated since there will be a lot of fighting stuff and emotional stuff entangled.
> 
> Anyway, please let me know what you think of this chapter in the comments. You know that I want as much feedback as possible regarding the fighting scenes since I'm still pretty self-conscious about writing these sorts of things. That said, I hope you could enjoy the chapter at least a little, even though all of this horrible stuff happened. Stay tuned for the next one and have a nice day!


End file.
